C Company News

My husband Andy, my daughter Victoria (Cdt Sgt Bailey) and myself (SSI Debbie Smith) assisted the police and ambulance services on the way home from Castle Martin Camp.

About 20 minutes drive from the camp we came across a nasty road traffic accident; it involved a young family who were on their way to their holiday destination and it soon became clear that their car and caravan were total write offs as were the cars further up the road that had also been involved in the accident.

Fortunately we had all our camp kit in our car so were fully equipped with first aid kits etc. Whilst Cdt Sgt Bailey and I used our first aid skills to assist a lady with head injuries, Andy assisted by directing the traffic.

After administering initial first aid so that the injuries were kept to a minimum we kept the patient talking and the family calm until the ambulance service arrived to take over and transport the mother of the family to hospital. The police asked Andy to continue with the traffic control whilst they marked up the scene of the accident.

Both the ambulance staff and the police thanked us for our help and told us that our first aid assistance and Andy's traffic management were invaluable in keeping control of the situation and ensuring that no further injuries were sustained.

We were just glad to assist, as it was very clear that both the woman and her children were in shock.

We always seem to be at the right place at the right time - only the other week we had to rescue a family from a burning car on the A46, and earlier in the year, whilst on holiday in Scotland, an elderly lady fell during an island trip and broke her hip. I had to immobilise her and accompany her on the ferry and then wait with her until the ambulance picked her up from the ferry to take her to hospital.

In another incident a lady in our local Tesco store had an epileptic fit and fell and hit her head. She was bleeding profusely and I managed to direct the staff and call for an ambulance whilst dealing with the head injury and the fit.

I put all this down to the excellent training I have received during my time with the Army Cadet Force and I am grateful that my three children, who are all cadets in the Army Cadet Force, are also benefiting from this training.

Debbie Smith
SSI
C Company