WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- It was supposed to be a relaxing day at home for Jessie and Kristen. They were taking a midday break outside to check on their foster kittens when a “blood-curdling scream” shattered the calm.
Master Sgt. Jessie Nunley and Master Sgt. Kristen Nunley, aerospace medical technicians with the Missouri Air National Guard’s 131st Medical Group, had just returned home from drill weekend, June 10, 2024. Neither of them expected that their medical training was about to be put to the test,
Kristen was about to head back inside, when she heard the scream come from her grandparents’ house nearby.
“I didn’t even wait around to think about it.” Without hesitation, Kristen sprinted up the road. She knew that her grandparents were having a new patio built by a father and son team, and as she was running put two and two together, “someone cut something off,” she thought. “I just know they did.”
When Kristen arrived, her suspicion was confirmed. There was blood strewn across the patio, a father with panic in his eyes, and a son standing in shock with three severed fingers – which he had cut off with the table saw.
Kristen immediately leapt into action and took control of the situation. Thinking on her feet and with limited resources available, she wrapped the son’s injured hand in a T-shirt, showed him how to apply pressure to slow the bleeding, and helped everyone remain calm.
Air National Guard members in medical units routinely undergo Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training, in which they learn and practice life-saving medical care.
“We had just gone through our TCCC training, and all of that came into play,” Kristen explained, “and my civilian job as a veterinary nurse really helped… we see animal trauma all the time.”
Having cared for the son, Kristen then simultaneously called 911, searched for the missing fingers, and texted her husband, Jessie:
“Cut fingers off.
Come to Grandma’s.
Called 911.”
“How on Earth did my wife cut her fingers off?” Jessie thought to himself. Not knowing what was going on, he dropped everything and rushed to the scene.
When he arrived, Kristen was on the phone with 911 and placing the son’s fingers in a thermos. Not missing a beat, Jessie ran over to the son, double checked to make sure the bleeding was controlled, and wrapped a belt around the son’s arm as a makeshift tourniquet.
As a medic in the Air National Guard and a firefighter professionally, these kinds of intense scenarios are exactly what Jessie trains for. “Without having all the experience I’ve gained, I would have been a deer in the headlights,” Jessie recalled. “There’s no way I would have known what to do.”
Jessie and Kristen stayed with and cared for the father and son until the ambulance arrived. The son was flown to a hospital in St. Louis, where he received further care.
Despite the chaos that day, Jessie and Kristen worked seamlessly as a team. Together, they have a combined 30 years of experience in the Air National Guard. And with both working in medical and emergency response fields as civilians, they exemplify how the Guard and community work together. “We’re all one big family,” as Jessie says, “so we all look out for each other no matter what.”
Master Sgt. Matthew Morris works with Jessie and Kristen in the 131 Medical Group and was eager to comment on their leadership and professionalism. “They are both very professional, super easy to work with, and it’s a pleasure having them with the 131st,” he said. “The individual that got hurt couldn’t have been in a better place as far as being able to receive immediate care.”
And there’s more to how Jessie and Kristen innately embody the value of service before self – they also run an animal foster center, where they work to enrich the lives of both animals and people throughout their community.
“We still catch up with the dad,” Kristen reflects. “He tells us all the time, ‘you guys were like angels that popped up out of nowhere.’”