Airmen call upon SABC training

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ryan Waldbauer
  • 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  It's uncommon to find individuals who go above and beyond what's necessary to get the job done.

There are few who help people they don't know, or take action to save a stranger's life. Two staff sergeants from the 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron, Darnell Strawder, an aerospace propulsion craftsman, and Hassell Butcher, an aerospace hydraulics systems craftsman, found themselves in that situation over the summer.

The Strawders had just entered the Butcher's apartment parking area to meet for lunch when a scooter came into a nearby intersection and hit the side of a van as it was halfway through the crossing. The impact dealt severe damage to the scooter, mangling the vehicle and rupturing the fuel tank.

"While my wife was parking, she saw the guy on the motorcycle run into the van," Strawder said. "When I looked up, I saw the bike alongside the man on the ground and started to get out of the car."

Making a dash to the accident site, Strawder immediately went into the initial steps of self-aid and buddy care on the injured scooter driver.

"As I got closer, the first thing I paid attention to was his breathing," Strawder said. "It was this awful snoring sound."

Knowing that his airway wasn't blocked, Strawder's next course of action was to remove the scooter from the area, as the cracked fuel tank streamed gasoline onto the street right next to his face.

While all this was going on, Butcher was preparing for work while his wife waited for the Strawders to arrive.

"My wife came around the corner and told me she had just gotten a call from them saying there was an accident downstairs," Butcher said. "My first thought was that my friends were in an accident, so I left without even putting boots on."

After Butcher's arrival, the two men ensured the scooter driver's airway remained clear.

"Right after I got there, Strawder and I noticed that the guy was seizing and that his tongue had started to obstruct his breathing," Butcher said. "We knew that we shouldn't move someone with a suspected neck injury, but we couldn't just let him choke and stop breathing, so Strawder supported his neck and upper back and I took his legs and hip and we rolled him onto his side which cleared the path to his lungs."

Once his airway was clear, both men could only watch and monitor his airway and heart rate while waiting for paramedics to arrive on scene.

It's rare for Airmen to use the SABC training that they are taught throughout their time in the military. Luckily for the scooter driver, his first responders were able to call upon the necessary knowledge to give him every chance he could to survive this ordeal.