Photo By Staff Sgt. Ian Kummer | California Army National Guard Spc. Nicholas Hamett, a medic with Headquarters and...... read more read more
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FRESNO, Calif. - As Gen. Carl von Clausewitz noted, “Whenever armed forces are used, the idea of combat must be present ... The end for which a soldier is recruited, clothed, armed, and trained, the whole object of his sleeping, eating, drinking, and marching is simply that he should fight at the right place and the right time."
For one medic, that right time turned out to be when a fellow Soldier suffered a serious injury during a training exercise.
California Army National Guard Spc. Nicholas Hamett, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), received an Army Commendation Medal at his home station in Fresno on Sept. 12 for his quick thinking and sound judgment while treating a casualty the month prior.
Hamett was on duty at a casualty evacuation exercise during the CAB’s pre-mobilization training at Camp Roberts on Aug. 21 when disaster struck: A nearby Soldier injured his spine in the training lane.
“The other trainers called for me, when I saw [the casualty], he was sitting and his helmet was already off ... he couldn’t move his neck,” Hamett said.
Hamett, a Fresno native and resident, has served in the Guard for nearly six years, and this wasn’t his first casualty. But this was the first time Hamett had to treat a seriously injured Soldier alone, and without the help of the senior medics in his section.
“All eyes are on you, if you don’t have the answer then no one does,” Hamett said.
Hamett decided the safest and most timely way to evacuate the Soldier was to use a nearby privately-owned vehicle (POV) instead of a Humvee. Another Soldier was assigned to hold the injured man’s head in place to prevent further injury during the trip.
“Spc. Hamett's decision to transport the injured with an available POV rather than waiting for an AMV or EMS demonstrated critical thinking skills, saved time and provided a more stable and comfortable ride for the injured Soldier,” said Chief Warrant Officer David Clark, the brigade safety officer.
Thanks to Hamett’s quick thinking, the injured Soldier arrived safely at the CAB’s Troop Medical Clinic (TMC), where he was picked up by an ambulance and transported to the Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton for surgery. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Though this decorated medic is planning to leave the Army next month, his personal journey is far from over. He is engaged to be married, and although he has a successful career as a security guard at a local department store in Fresno, he plans to move on to become a corrections officer.
Hamett California Army National Guard after graduating high school in 2009. On a whim, he discussed the possibility of a military career with his cousin, who at the time was a recruiter. As a typical teenager, Hamett wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, and credits his career with the Army and the CAB with broadening his horizons.
“When I left for basic training, that was the first time I had even been in an airplane,” Hamett said.
The brand-new Soldier had no previous experience or interests in medicine, but after graduating basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he started his training to become a medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and grew fascinated with the profession.
“When I was in High School, I didn’t have any aspirations in that field, but once I got into it, I learned to love it,” Hamett said.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2015 12:43 |
| Story ID: | 178895 |
| Location: | FRESNO, CA, US |
| Hometown: | FRESNO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 907 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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