Photo By Ryan Labadens | Tech. Sgt. Sierra Davis, 403rd Security Forces Squadron administrative assistant,...... read more read more
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BILOXI, Miss. -- While driving her car down Pass Road March 1, Tech. Sgt. Sierra Davis slowed to a stop at a stoplight that had just turned red. It was a sunny Friday afternoon just before the 403rd Wing's drill weekend at Keesler Air Force Base here.
A husband and wife started crossing the street when a pick-up truck screeched by Davis's car, running through the red light. The woman who was crossing stopped in time, but the truck slammed into her husband with a loud thud, flipping him over the vehicle and smacking him onto the pavement.
Immediately, Davis, a 403rd Security Forces Squadron administrative assistant, pulled her car over and called 911, telling the operator what she witnessed. Then she ran over to the husband to see what she could do to help.
The man was conscious, but groaning and panicked. He was bleeding in several places and one of his legs was broken, with a bone protruding from it.
The wife was screaming and hysterical, so Davis tried to keep her calm, reassuring her that she had called 911 and that help was on the way.
"(The wife) wanted to move him out of the street to keep him from getting hit again, but I knew that if we moved him it might make his injuries worse," said Davis.
By this time an Air Force captain from Keesler AFB had pulled over to help. He started speaking to the wife to keep her calm while Davis began directing traffic around the scene of the accident until police and rescue units showed up a few minutes later. Paramedics treated the husband's injuries as much as they could and stabilized him for transport to a local hospital.
Even though she was nervous at the time, Davis said what helped her get through the ordeal was the self-aid and buddy care training she received through the Air Force Reserve. The information she recalled from the hands-on classes and computer-based training helped in her decision-making process.
"I knew I didn't want to take a chance of making things worse by moving him," said Davis, citing her concerns about the husband possibly having a neck or spinal injury. "I remember learning that from the (SABC) classes I took."
Master Sgt. Katherine Eaton, 403rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron SABC advisor, complimented Davis's actions in not moving the husband so as not to cause further injury.
"Self-aid and buddy care may be one of those things we chalk up to deployments, but the reality is we never know when situations will arise that require those very skills," said Eaton.
Eaton said the Air Force instruction that governs the self-aid and buddy care program states "SABC provides first-aid training to preserve life, limb, and eyesight in a deployed environment or during an emergency at the home unit." Of course, as evidenced by Davis's actions, these aren't the only environments where SABC training can be applied, Eaton said.
Master Sgt. Paul Keyes, 403rd Security Force Squadron first sergeant, said he feels the training Davis received through the Air Force Reserve played a huge part in how she reacted to the event. He said he the leadership skills developed and learned in the Air Force Reserve allowed her to maintain control of an emotional event.
"Tech. Sgt. Davis's actions make me very proud as her supervisor and as a human being," said Keyes. "(I'm) not surprised by her actions, as I know her to be a caring and compassionate person and an NCO who knows how to stay focused in stressful situation. Tech. Sgt. Davis's actions reflect great credit upon herself, the U.S. Air Force and citizen airmen."
| Date Taken: | 07.13.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2017 15:06 |
| Story ID: | 221515 |
| Location: | KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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