Exchange Associates Save Lives, Receive Honors at Fort Huachuca

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – Two Exchange associates were recognized Jan. 6 for their heroism and quick thinking which saved the lives of two individuals in separate incidents at Fort Huachuca.

Gidget Rivera and Daniel Fox were presented with commander’s coins and certificates from the garrison commander, Col. Jarrod Moreland, and Exchange General Manager Jeff Hyatt to acknowledge their customer care and heroism.

Rivera, an Exchange service station employee, was working outside near the fuel pumps one day when she noticed a man pull up to the pumps.

“He was having trouble figuring out how to get gas in his car because he had parked on the wrong side,” she said.

Gidget Rivera, an Exchange service station employee at Fort Huachuca, and Daniel Fox, a supervisor at Popeyes, were presented with commander’s coins and certificates from Fort Huachuca Garrison Commander Col. Jarrod Moreland (left) and Exchange General Manager Jeff Hyatt (right). (Photo Credit: Karen Stevens Sampson)

Sensing the man’s distress, Rivera approached to see if she could assist and found him to be disoriented, she said.

“I decided to call 911 because I did not want him to drive off in his mental state,” she said. “He could hurt himself or hurt someone else if he were to drive.”

The paramedics arrived and took the man to the hospital. Unbeknownst to Rivera, the man was suffering from kidney failure, she said.

The paramedics later let the Exchange staff know that if Rivera had not called 911, the man’s situation could have been fatal.

Due to Rivera’s attention, the man got the help he needed to survive.

In a separate incident at Popeyes, a choking woman was saved by a supervisor there.

“I was sweeping the floor of the dining area,” Fox said. “There were only three people seated together in the dining room, finishing their meals.”

There was a woman with them who suddenly seemed to be in duress.

“She was choking,” he said.

At first, Fox held her shoulder then applied pressure to her back. However, this did not dislodge the obstruction of food in her windpipe.

“When I realized the food was not dislodging, I applied a full Heimlich maneuver,” he said.

Fox’s quick thinking, attention and effort saved the woman.

“Both Daniel and Gidget demonstrated the core values of the Exchange,” Hyatt said. “Family serving families is our top priority. I am very proud of them.”