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VICENZA, Italy - The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s Spc. Justin L. Deal, a 22-year-old from Waterloo, N.Y., with the 2nd Battalion, HHC Scout Platoon, 2-503rd Infantry Battalion, made very good use of his Combat Life Saving Course, recently.
The soldier noticed a man on the ground and after rushing over to the local Italian citizen, who was the victim of a hit-and-run pedestrian accident, Deal checked the injured citizen and looked for deviated extremeties, any problems with breathing or bleeding, as well as signs for shock.
“A military police soldier was there and provided a thermal blanket to keep the Italian gentleman warm and that helped to prevent shock perhaps,” said Deal, a decisive infantryman, who beams with confidence.
After checking the accident victim’s rib cage and ensured that his limbs all showed signed of a pulse, Deal, who attended Basic Training at Fort Benning, in Georgia, said it took the ambulance about 30-40 minutes to arrive on scene.
The quick-thinking soldier placed a neck brace on the Italian citizen to mitigate the chance of worsening any neck or spinal injuries.
“When the emergency medical technicians got there, they placed a “C” collar on the man, which replaced the brace I had used,” Deal said.
Deal, who has been in the U.S. Army for three years, said that he contacted his platoon sergeant immediately after the situation and that his supervisor told him that he had done a good job.
“Everyone in my chain of command have been very encouraging and I’m just glad I received that Bayonet First Responder training, recently. “It came in handy,” Deal said. “The man needed help and I felt confident that I could render aid to him.”
“The man had a friend there at the scene who was translating Italian and English for us, and we mostly were able to understand what each other was saying there. I saw the accident victim’s family soon after the accident, as they reside across the street from where I live and where the accident occurred. The family waved to me and I could tell they appreciated what I was able to do for the man.”
Deal probably never dreamed what he would be confronted with the day he stepped outside his apartment and spotted an injured man on the ground in need of help, but the combat course he attended a week prior, proved to be very helpful to the young Sky soldier.
“It is Italian law that people are good Samaritans and stop to lend a hand when no emergency personnel are on the scene yet. I was glad to be there and to apply what I had been taught.”
Deal concluded saying that it is unfortunate that someone hit the man with their vehicle, but judging from the victim’s family members waving to him and seeming upbeat after the accident, he has every hope that the accident victim will recover. “I was just doing what soldiers are taught to do – step in and help,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2011 12:56 |
| Story ID: | 81573 |
| Location: | VICENZA, IT |
| Web Views: | 450 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 2-503rd Sky soldier renders first aid to injured Italian, by SFC Bruce Cobbeldick, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
