Photo By Staff Sgt. Walter Lowell | Col. Vernon L. Scarbrough, 17th Sustainment Brigade commander, awards Staff Sgt. David...... read more read more
LAS VEGAS – Three Soldiers from the Nevada National Guard’s 1864th Transportation Company received awards Nov. 2, 2014, for disregarding their personal safety to perform potentially life-saving actions in the aftermath of a civilian car accident.
The three-car crash occurred Sunday, March 2, 2014, on Las Vegas’ Interstate 15. Numerous Soldiers, including Master Sgt. Michael Spaulding, Staff Sgt. David Bravo, Spec. Anna Shum, Spc. Michaelangelo Bonsignore and Pfc. Kevin Martinez, were in uniform and on their way to drill when they witnessed the crash, which occurred around 5:30 a.m., or its immediate aftermath.
First on the scene was Spaulding, then first sergeant with the 72nd Military Police Company. Spaulding was traveling south when he saw the accident occur on the northbound side of the Interstate. After pulling his vehicle to side, he grabbed an aid bag from his car and then crossed three lanes of southbound traffic, the median and three lanes of northbound traffic to arrive first on the scene.
Spaulding, who has medical training and previous deployment experience, began providing medical assistance when he realized that one of the accident victims was slumped unconscious in his burning vehicle.
Around this time, Bravo, then holding the rank of sergeant and Shum arrived on the scene and moved to assist Spaulding in pulling the severely wounded passenger from his vehicle. As the fire continued burning, eventually causing the car’s battery to explode, Spaulding, Bravo and Shum helped move the victim approximately 35 feet. Because they suspected the victim had a neck injury, Bravo used a special hold technique to stabilize the injured man’s neck during transport.
Bravo and Shum also continued to render aid to the victim, using a chest rub to resuscitate him twice after he lost consciousness.
“Everyone on the scene was calm,” said Bravo, who serves as a team leader with the 1864th. “ It wasn’t a panic situation.
“Of course, that’s Army training: When you come upon a scene you don’t see everyday, you keep a level head.”
“I don't think anyone who was there will tell you we did any more than what we were trained to do,” wrote Spaulding in an email. “It was pretty bad ass though to have Soldiers come running from out of nowhere to help out.”
Two of those Soldiers were Bonsignore and Martinez who pulled over when they saw Soldiers assisting the car-crash victims. Disregarding their own safety they worked to alert northbound Interstate traffic to slow down and diverted those vehicles around the wrecked vehicles.
My focus was to “maintain the flow [of traffic] and not cause another accident and get the first responders in there as soon as possible,” said Martinez who is a motor transport operator with the 1864th.
Bonsignore and Martinez’s traffic control efforts allowed the other Soldiers and motorists who had stopped to help to continue their life-saving efforts until emergency personnel arrived.
“All of these Soldiers did what comes naturally, help others,” wrote Spaulding. “They put themselves in harm's way, with cars roaring through the middle of the accident scene. They kept calm, controlled traffic, controlled people and rendered first aid the way they were trained.”
At the Nov. 2 award ceremony, Lt. Col. John M. Kruthaupt, 17th Special Troops Battalion commander, presented both Bonsignore and Martinez with an Army Achievement Medal. Col. Vernon L. Scarbrough, 17th Sustainment Brigade Commander, presented Bravo with the Army Commendation Medal. Shum was not able to attend the ceremony, but she also earned an Army Commendation Medal for her actions.
Kruthaupt has nominated Spaulding for a Soldier’s Medal, which is the highest award a Soldier can receive outside of a combat scenario. The award is pending.
“When I heard about your actions, I was extremely proud but not surprised,” Kruthaupt told the assembled Soldiers during the award ceremony.
“All of you represent the best our nation has to offer with your military service and the display of your personal courage. Even though none of you did this for personal recognition, you deserve these accolades and awards.”
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2014 21:22 |
| Story ID: | 146796 |
| Location: | LAS VEGAS, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 414 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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