San Diego Marine Recruit Dies After Unspecified 'Medical Emergency'

A Marine recruit who was treated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) around midnight Friday by a drill instructor died Sunday, according to base officials.

Reports state that the Marine was a trainee at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego.

According to a report in the daily San Diego Union-Tribune, the Marine recruit was taken to an unnamed off-base hospital Friday after he was given the CPR for an indeterminate “medical emergency."

Marine officials did not reveal details about the time citing federal health privacy rules, however, they said he was being “monitored due to ongoing physical health issues” before the incident took place.

At the time, the commander of Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego and the Western Recruiting Region, Brig. Gen. William Jurney, said in a statement, “The recruit’s family has been notified of their son’s condition and we are working closely with them to support their needs during this extremely difficult time.”

However, the joint efforts of the MCRD and medical professionals could not save the recruit’s life as he was declared dead on Sunday morning at 11:43 a.m. local time (2:43 p.m. EST).

The cause of death of the unidentified Marine recruit is still undisclosed.

Reports state that Marine officials will reveal the name and hometown of the recruit after the first 24 hours. The details of the drill instructor who provided CPR to the recruit till responders arrived is also unspecified.

This is not the first time that something went awry at the MCRD San Diego. In an incident from October 2017, about 300 Marines-in-training along with some personnel at Camp Pendleton were sickened because of an outbreak of diarrheal illnesses, including cases of E. coli infection.

Among all those who fell sick, 10 were admitted to an off-base hospital and the others were treated at military medical facilities. The source of the outbreak was under investigation but remained undetermined.

At the time, Jurney had said, “Our immediate focus is identifying, isolating and treating recruits who present symptoms. We are working to identify the cause of the sickness, making sure our affected recruits can return to training as soon as possible and continuing training for recruits not influenced."

According to a report in a Fox-affiliated television station, Fox5 San Diego, the rash of illnesses including some at a training facility in Camp Pendleton began a week before it was identified. The spike in cases was the reason why special attention was paid to the problem.

Reports said more than 17,000 men recruited west of the Mississippi River train annually at MCRD San Diego. The newest batch arrived Monday and was assigned to Mike Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion. They are all slated to graduate on June 15.