Cadets support casualty in their first aid course lunch break

Four Essex Army Cadets kneel at a dummy to practise applying tourniquets with support from an adult cadet instructor

The final weekend of January saw older members of the Essex Army Cadet Force (ACF) study for a First Aid at Work course—and some of the cadets support a casualty in their lunch break.

Learning first aid is commonplace in the ACF. All adult instructors must have a First Aid at Work qualification, which is valid for three years, and it’s also available to cadets aged 16 and over. Cadets who pass the course then have at least a year’s accreditation remaining when they leave the ACF at 18.

Both teenagers and adults on the course spend 18 hours learning lifesaving and emergency response skills, including CPR, treatment for wounds and burns, and handling other medical emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes.

The course’s length means there are usually three days of lessons before an assessment. In this case Essex ACF’s Leigh-on-Sea Detachment hosted the course on the 24th, 25th and 26th of January. And it was during one lunch break when the cadets sprang into action.

While they were at the shops buying some food, a number of cadets spotted an elderly woman struggling to get into a car. Cadet Sgt Will Frostick and Cadet L/Cpl Michael Rummelhart hurried over to help while other cadets went to fetch Sgt Maj Instructor Lee Evans, who happened to be nearby.

Cadet Sgt Frostick stayed with the casualty, who was hip pain, and asked a passer-by to call an ambulance. After he arrived, Sgt Maj Evans assessed the woman’s injuries while Cadet Sgt Frostick supported her back, as she was unable to lean against the car seat.

Shortly after, County Medical Support Officer Capt Myles Ward—an ambulance service professional—came to assist, handing over the casualty to the arriving ambulance crew. Capt Ward was leading the first aid course the cadets had been attending, and said he was pleased to see cadets support a casualty by applying their newly acquired skills.

He added: “It’s good to see some tangible results and sense of achievement from the cadets.”

After the incident, Cadet Sgt Frostick said he felt “useful and strangely sentimental” as his grandmother was of similar age to the woman he had helped, and that it was likely she was someone else’s gran.

You can read the full story—and find out how the Essex cadets and Adult Instructors did in their course—on the Essex ACF website.

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