USU College of Allied Health Sciences Graduate Plays Key Role in Lifesaving Response

Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Adam Altreche, a 2023 USU graduate, utilized his military medical training to revive an unresponsive man during a cardiac emergency.

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The hospital corpsmen who helped give an unresponsive man a fighting chance on the morning of Feb. 03, including USU College of Allied Health Sciences alum Adam Altreche (pictured center, right), pose for a photo in the HMTT Great Lakes training lab, Feb. 10. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Lindsey)

February 27, 2026 by Sharon Holland

Rapid clinical judgment and decisive action by Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Adam Altreche helped save the life of an unresponsive man experiencing a medical emergency, Feb. 3, 2024.

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Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Adam Altreche, a 2023 graduate of the USU College of Allied Health Sciences, stands in a trauma unit where he applies the clinical skills developed through his military medical education. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Lindsey)

A 2023 graduate of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) College of Allied Health Sciences, Altreche was participating in the Hospital Corpsman Trauma Training program conducted at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. While off duty at a nearby gym, Altreche and three other hospital corpsmen participating in the training heard facility staff urgently shouting for medical personnel. The team immediately responded, directing staff to call 911 before locating the patient lying unresponsive in a shower area.

"He was not responding to our verbal commands," Altreche recalled. The corpsmen then checked his airway and breathing, assessed his pulses, and continuously reevaluated his condition while awaiting emergency medical services.

After moving the patient from the shower area and monitoring his condition, the situation quickly escalated. "I checked his airway again, checked his carotid pulse and noticed he was pulseless," Altreche said. Altreche recognized cardiac arrest and directed a teammate to begin chest compressions, initiating CPR and coordinating access for first responders.

The corpsmen continued resuscitative efforts until emergency medical services arrived, providing a full handoff of clinical observations and care provided. The patient regained a pulse and was transported to a hospital.

Though trained as a radiologic technologist, Altreche demonstrated the operational readiness, clinical judgment, and emergency response skills developed through military medical education and hands-on training.

"This incident reflects the kind of readiness we strive to instill in every graduate," said Dr. James Nash, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences. "Petty Officer Altreche's ability to recognize a life-threatening condition and act decisively demonstrates how our programs prepare military health professionals to deliver exceptional care whenever and wherever it is needed."