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TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — A farewell dinner for a Navy hospital corpsman turned into a real-world emergency response Aug. 21 when 10 hospital corpsmen and several Marines rushed to the scene of a house explosion in Twentynine Palms, helping pull an injured man from a burning, collapsing home, evacuate neighboring residences and provide medical care until civilian emergency responders arrived.
Nine of the corpsmen were assigned to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Twentynine Palms and had gathered at Kitchen in the Desert that Friday evening for a farewell dinner honoring Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Hareramdas Garcia, who is preparing to depart the command.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., a powerful explosion interrupted the evening.
Hospitalman Mykrussel Dominguez Gonzales, a Calapacuan, Philippines, native and emergency department corpsman at Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, remembers hearing the blast and seeing white smoke rising above the surrounding neighborhood.
“We heard a loud explosion and immediately saw white smoke rising from the direction of the sound,” Gonzales said. “Once we saw the smoke, we ran toward it.”
The corpsmen left the restaurant and moved toward the smoke, quickly transitioning from a gathering among coworkers and friends to an emergency response unfolding just blocks away.
Gonzales and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Aiden Keith, a native of Placentia, California, who works in the hospital's Adult Medical Care Clinic, took the most direct path they could find, crossing residential properties and climbing several fences to reach the scene.
Hospitalman Fernanda Palencia-Miranda, a Los Angeles native assigned to the emergency department, took a different route around the block and began helping evacuate residents from neighboring homes.
“I don't think the danger really crossed my mind when I got up and headed toward the explosion,” Palencia-Miranda said. “I just thought I would want people to do the same if I were in that situation.”
As the group converged on the neighborhood, they encountered a home engulfed in flames and partially collapsed from the force of the explosion. Bystanders had gathered across the street while fire and smoke continued to consume the damaged structure.
After clearing the final fence and making his way from the rear of the property toward the front, Gonzales saw someone inside the home waving for help.
Through the smoke and debris, he could see one injured man attempting to pull another man from the burning structure.
Gonzales and Keith entered the burning structure to assist.
“Recognizing the immediate danger, we immediately entered the house to provide assistance,” Gonzales said. “The roof had already partially collapsed and the flames were spreading.”
With debris surrounding the second victim and the fire continuing to burn, Gonzales lifted the man's upper body by his arms while Keith, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Kareem Underwood and Marine Cpl. Zachary Voorhees, both assigned to 7th Marine Regiment, helped pull him by his legs and away from the wreckage.
The group then moved both injured men away from the burning structure and immediate danger.
For Keith, the immediate priority was preventing the emergency from claiming additional casualties.
“Helping where I could and minimizing any additional casualties was my greatest concern,” Keith said.
As they worked amid the fire and smoke, Keith also warned the others assisting at the scene to avoid breathing in smoke and material coming from the damaged structure.
Getting the injured man out of the house was only the first step.
The group initially moved him into the front yard but quickly determined they remained too close to the burning structure. They moved him again, first toward the curb and then across the street, increasing the distance between the patient and the fire.
Throughout the movement, Gonzales maintained cervical spine stabilization to help protect the man's head and neck from further injury.
Additional service members joined the response as the scene developed, assisting with the casualties, evacuations and movement away from the immediate danger. Among them were Garcia, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Lucia Carano, Hospitalman Irene Villegas, Hospitalman Tu Vu Thaun Doan, Hospitalman Calvin Dano, Hospital Apprentice Quoc Tran and several Marines.
For Palencia-Miranda, helping meant moving away from the casualty treatment and toward the surrounding homes. While others concentrated on reaching and removing the injured man, she worked to get neighboring residents away from the fire and the possibility of additional danger before later rejoining the group.
Once the injured man had been moved across the street, the corpsmen assessed his condition and monitored him while awaiting civilian emergency medical personnel.
The response drew directly on skills many of the Sailors routinely practice as part of their Navy medical training. Keith, who has served in the Navy for more than five years, said training in tactical care helped him remain composed and think critically as the group responded to an uncontrolled and rapidly changing emergency.
“Our job always has us training,” Keith said. “I've been in the Navy for more than five years and have gone through multiple courses in tactical care. That training definitely played a factor in staying calm, using critical thinking and helping with the situation.”
He also credited experience and lessons passed down by coworkers and mentors with preparing him to respond when those skills were suddenly needed outside a training environment.
For Gonzales, who normally spends his duty day assisting physicians and nurses with patient care in the Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms emergency department, there was little time during the response to consciously weigh his training against the danger surrounding him.
“I was definitely aware of how dangerous the situation was, but the potential harm I was putting myself in didn't really cross my mind,” Gonzales said. “I didn't have time to think about what was motivating me. My body moved before I could fully process what was happening.”
Instead, he said, his focus remained on the patient.
“All I could think about was falling back on my training and helping the victim as much as I could,” Gonzales said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and San Bernardino County Fire personnel responded to the scene soon after. As firefighters worked to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading to neighboring homes, paramedics assumed care of the injured.
The corpsmen and Marines continued assisting through the transition.
They helped position the injured man on a blanket and transfer him onto a paramedic stretcher. Gonzales continued maintaining cervical spine stabilization during the movement, while Keith provided the treating paramedic with information about the patient's condition and what had occurred before emergency crews arrived.
“We helped transfer the casualty before I gave the treating paramedic a brief patient description and background information about what happened at the scene,” Keith said.
The explosion killed one woman and injured two adult men. One of the men suffered significant burn injuries and was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. The other was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with moderate injuries.
Firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to surrounding residences, but the explosion and subsequent fire caused extensive damage to the home.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Arson and Bomb Detail is investigating the cause of the explosion.
What began as a farewell dinner for one of the command's Sailors ultimately placed the group in the middle of an emergency where the medical skills they practice throughout their Navy careers were suddenly needed in their own community.
Capt. Janiese Cleckley, commanding officer of NMRTC Twentynine Palms and director of Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, said the corpsmen's actions reflected both their commitment to the community and the readiness expected of Navy Medicine personnel.
“I am incredibly proud of our hospital corpsmen,” Cleckley said. “When the blast echoed through Twentynine Palms, they saw members of their community in need and didn't hesitate. They immediately stepped forward and used their training to help save two lives. Their selfless actions serve as a proud reminder that wherever disaster strikes, the corpsman is always ready.”
Cleckley said that readiness extends beyond the hospital and does not end when a corpsman goes off duty.
“The title of ‘Doc’ is not something you take off at the end of the day when you change out of uniform,” Cleckley said. “Readiness is a lifestyle, not a shift. Even without the sterile environment of a hospital, their standard medical bags or any warning, their muscle memory and bias for action instantly took over. These corpsmen were confronted with a real-world emergency and relied on their training, teamwork and instincts to respond when every second mattered. They are lifesavers, anytime, anywhere.”
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