Young first aider of the Year award winners 2010

Max Attack - St John Ambulance Badger
Aged 9

On 24 August 2009, Max was on holiday with his parents in Germany when he witnessed his neighbour collapse in front of him. Acting promptly, he looked for a response, opened the airway and checked for breathing before running off to find his parents.

Max returned to the scene with his parents, both St John Ambulance Advanced First Aiders, who carried out life saving first aid. He stayed calm throughout and continued to help by finding a blanket and directing the ambulance crew to the garden.

After a long period in hospital and extensive heart surgery, the casualty made a full recovery.

Abigail Carson - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 15

On 12 September 2009, Abigail was at her grandparent's house, when she heard a tremendous noise. Rushing to the stairs she saw that her grandfather, aged 79, had fallen from the top and crashed into a table at the bottom. 

The fall had knocked him unconscious and he was bleeding from the face and neck. Abigail tried to rouse him, checked for any further injuries and then telephoned for an ambulance. While on the telephone, her grandfather, in a confused state, began to move. She kept him calm and tried to stop the bleeding from a deep wound on his face. 

The operator stayed on the telephone until the ambulance crew arrived. By this time, her younger brother and sister were extremely upset and crying; Abigail consoled them while the ambulance crew attended to their grandfather. She informed the crew about her grandfather’s health and the medication he took then telephoned her mother. 

Abigail's grandmother, who is completely deaf and had suffered a stroke, was reassured by Abigail using sign language. 

Her grandfather was admitted to hospital for observation.

The following day Abigail came to the aid of her grandmother who had suffered a fall, bruised herself and cut her face.

Matthew Dogru - Army Cadet Force
Aged 13

On 5 September 2009, Matthew was on holiday with his family in Spain.

Matthew was playing a video game with his twin brother George and his younger brother Seb, when he heard George cough. Matthew saw that George's legs were caught on the chair and the rest of his body was on the floor. George's leg had begun to twitch and he was making a choking/snoring noise and then he started to fit. Matthew pulled him away from the chair and held him.

He shouted to Seb to get help and then placed George's chin down to stop him from swallowing his tongue. He checked his breathing but he was still making the noise. Matthew hit his back and then placed his hand under his bottom lip which made his mouth open slightly and Matthew saw a piece of a sweet at the back of his throat. Matthew made a hook with his finger and pulled it out of his mouth. George's mouth then closed and his eyes became wide. When he looked again, George's eyes had fallen to the floor and had become bloodshot. 

A woman arrived and tried to move George's arms but Matthew stopped her. When George's arms started to loosen, Matthew put him in the recovery position and he stopped making the snoring noise. The hotel manager tried to put a belt in George's mouth but Matthew didn't allow him as George was already in the recovery position. 

George was still unconscious when the ambulance arrived and he was kept in overnight. 

Craig Goddard - St John Ambulance Badger
Aged 11

On 28 June 2009, Craig was swimming at Covehithe Beach with his 18 year old brother Ian and other family members. Ian came out of the sea and fainted. 

Craig noticed that his brother had a red rash with white welts and was shivering and cold. Using his first aid skills, he took charge of the incident and covered Ian with towels, clothes and other items to keep him warm then telephoned for an ambulance.

The emergency services were unable to find the beach and during the hour the patient and first aider had to wait, Craig administered continual first aid and kept talking to Ian to keep him conscious.

Matthew Jackson - Army Cadet Force
Aged 16

On 4 September 2009, Matthew was walking through Sighthill Park with his girlfriend when a man ran past them carrying a blood-covered knife. He heard screaming from the direction the man had come from and went to investigate. 

Matthew found a man lying on the ground bleeding profusely from a stab wound to his abdomen. He took charge of the situation and grabbed a blanket from a baby's pram to stem the blood flow. Matthew then instructed the owner of the pram to apply direct pressure to the wound while he called the emergency services. 

The police arrived followed by the ambulance. 

The casualty recovered after two emergency operations.

Joseph McCrudden - Air Training Cadets
Aged 16

On 29 May 2009, Joseph and his girlfriend were leaving a concert when they saw a young girl on the floor. The girl was lying on her back motionless but vomiting.
There were adults in close proximity to her but no one had taken the initiative to offer aid.

Joseph knelt down beside her and tried to wake her up by calling to her and shaking her shoulder. Realising she was unconscious, he asked someone to call an ambulance. He tilted the girl’s head back and then looked sideways to her chest and used all his senses to check for her breath; she was breathing but at a slow rate. While putting her in the recovery position, Joseph noticed that her mouth and nose were slightly blocked and tilted her head back a little more. 

The police arrived followed by the ambulance. Joseph explained the situation to both emergency services and left the incident knowing the situation was under control.

Jodi Page - Army Cadet Force
Aged 17

On 30 June 2009, Jodi was on her way to college when a 78 year old man collapsed at the entrance to Cambridge railway station. Jodi went to the man's aid and found him unresponsive. While checking his airway she discovered that his false teeth had fallen to the back of his throat. Jodi removed them. 

The man's breathing was erratic: he was also making short loud gasps then would stop breathing. She sent a bystander to call for an ambulance and, using a face shield, commenced CPR. 

Unexpectedly, the man gave a large gasp and started breathing so Jodi put him into the recovery position. She then asked station staff for a first aid kit and using a large dressing, applied it to the wound at the back of his head. Jodi carried on checking the man's breathing until the ambulance arrived.

Rachel Prosser - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 12

In May 2009, Rachel was playing in her garden with her father Kevin when a female friend came rushing out of the house. Her 20 month old daughter was choking on a cracker. The mother had slapped her back several times to dislodge it but when her daughter showed no signs of recovering, she ran outside for help.

Rachel took the baby whilst the mother went back inside to call for an ambulance. Staying calm and showing exceptional presence of mind, Rachel put her first aid into practice. She gave the child five back blows and then two abdominal thrusts and then the cracker came out.

Thomas Ross - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 16

On 10 November 2009, Thomas was on his way to work on the bus. The bus stopped but Thomas was unaware there had been a road traffic incident as he was listening to his iPod. Taking out his headphones he heard the driver say there had been an accident. 

He went to investigate and asked the driver what had happened. He established the facts and began the primary assessment of the casualty; a child. The casualty was awake but had clear signs of concussion. 

Asking a bystander to hold the head of the casualty, he checked the casualty for other injuries. The casualty became distressed and Thomas made the decision to take control of the head as the only other obvious injuries were minor grazes. 

The police quickly arrived and took care of the driver of the car who hadn’t been injured. A paramedic responder soon after knew Thomas from duty at Birmingham City Football ground and told him to continue reassuring the casualty. The ambulance crew arrived ten minutes after the paramedic. The paramedic told Thomas the log roll was on his count – his first.

The casualty was strapped onto a spinal board, lifted onto the trolley and into the ambulance. Thomas then left the scene to go to work.

Nicole Smith - Army Cadet Force
Aged 14

On 16 June 2009, Nicole was walking home from school. On turning a corner, she saw her friends congregating on the pavement and gesturing to her to approach them.  Nicole ran over to find a young male on the ground, attempting to stand up. Nicole asked what had happened and found that the casualty had been riding his moped down the hill at high speed and had collided with a stationery vehicle parked at the side of the road. He had hit the road causing severe injuries to himself. 

Nicole told the casualty to stay still and not to move his injured leg. She noticed that there was muscle and bone protruding from the wound and that he was bleeding severely. No one had a first aid kit and so she improvised with tea towels from a local resident. She applied direct pressure and reassured the casualty. Nicole asked a friend to call an ambulance.

When the first responder arrived, she was asked to stay and help with the casualty’s dressings and prepare him for transportation. 

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics took over.