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Nathan Kane - Air Training Corps
Aged 17

In October 2010, during a camping exercise at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, attended by 18 cadets, a strong smell of gas was detected in the cadet accommodation block.

Several cadets complained of feeling unwell during the night. Nathan Kane, one of the cadets involved, took charge of the situation, assessed the dangers and immediately evacuated the accommodation block, sending a runner to alert the Night Duty Officer.

By the time the Night Duty Officer had arrived, Nathan had the cadets lined up and had conducted a head count to ensure all cadets were out of the building. He then briefed the Night Duty Officer and assisted the staff in moving the cadets to the safety of the Sergeants Mess, carrying at least one cadet himself. 

Following this, Nathan started to triage the cadets ahead of the staff members having laid the casualties on the floor. As the staff member came to each cadet in turn, Nathan moved onto the next, assessing and reassuring each one as he went. 

Nathan continued his actions caring for each cadet in turn. He met the arriving ambulance crews and assisted in briefing them along with the staff. He also ensured that one particular cadet who was unwell, but refusing to admit to the fact, was brought to the attention of both the staff and ambulance crews, when he started to treat him for shock.

All 18 cadets were taken to hospital for follow up assessment.

Eoghan King
Aged 10

On 16 July 2010, Eoghan's family had decided to have fish and chips for their evening meal. During the meal, his sister Noelle started having breathing difficulties. His mother, realising the seriousness of the situation, left the table to phone for an ambulance.

Eoghan told his family he knew what to do and gave 10 back blows and one abdominal thrust at which two fish bones were dislodged onto the carpet. It was clear to his mother that Noelle was in serious danger of choking but instead the outcome was a sore throat for a couple of days. 

Eoghan was taught the St John Ambulance Young First Aider scheme at his Primary School in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Amy McNamara
Aged 8

In December 2009, Amy and her young brother Mikey, were both sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. Amy called out to her mother as Mikey was in distress and unable to breathe.

Amy got up from the table and with some authority smacked Mikey in the centre of his back and after three or four firm smacks, dislodged the food and then calmly sat back down to finish her dinner, but not before she told her brother to chew his food before swallowing. 

Michael Parkin
Aged 16

On Christmas Eve 2010, Michael was on holiday with his family in Northern Ireland. He was in bed when he heard shouting; he immediately went downstairs to find his mother collapsed on the floor. She was very pale, unconscious and gasping for breath. 

An ambulance was called but before it arrived Michael realised his mother was no longer breathing. Michael immediately started performing CPR. After a while his mother took a huge gasp of air and started breathing very fast and shallow. Michael remained by his mother's side monitoring her breathing and pulse, constantly reassuring her even though she was still unconscious. Michael also comforted his brother who was in some distress. 

The ambulance arrived some 30 minutes later due to the snow and traffic conditions as Northern Ireland had just seen the biggest snow fall for over 30 years. The ambulance immediately transferred his mother to hospital where she was in intensive care for four days and was later moved to a cardiac ward for tests. 

becaue she was too ill to travel she had to stay in Northern Ireland while the rest of the family returned to Cumbria in January for school and work. 

She finally returned home February 2011.

Kyla Sanders - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 15

In April and May 2009, Kyla was involved in two incidents.

In the first incident, Kyla was at a fairground in Northampton when she heard a scream from an adult who had been thrown from a fairground ride. Kyla approached the scene to find the casualty on the floor with a group of adults trying to move her. The casualty's children and grandchildren were also in attendance. 

Kyla realised the person could have spinal injuries and instructed the adults to stop moving them and to call an ambulance. This resulted in abuse from the adults who had no confidence in Kyla's first aid knowledge or skills. 

Despite this she immobilised the patient and waited for the ambulance to arrive. She reassured the casualty and comforted the children and grandchildren whilst having to contend with the abusive crowds. 

In the second incident, Kyla was walking through a shopping centre when she witnessed a person having an epileptic fit. The epileptic patient was accompanied by their disabled (wheelchair bound) daughter and a male companion. 

An off-duty nurse provided treatment to the fitting patient but both the disabled daughter and companion suffered panic attacks and were hyperventilating at the scene. Kyla provided treatment for hyperventilation and shock to both patients whilst keeping the crowds at bay. 

On both occasions, Kyla demonstrated strong incident management in advance of her years and in both cases facilitated a beneficial outcome for both casualties.

Rebecca Scott - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 15

In February 2011, Rebecca was on her way to her evening cadet meeting when she came across an incident in Birtley, County Durham. A male cyclist had been struck by a car and knocked off his bicycle. 

Rebecca found him lying on his back with bruising on the right side of his abdomen and a wound to his leg. The casualty also had pain in his lower back and was finding it difficult to breathe. Rebecca supported his head as she suspected the cyclist had injured their spine and placed a blanket over him. 

She took charge of the situation confirming that a bystander had telephoned the emergency services. 

The police arrived and controlled the traffic while Rebecca continued to reassure the casualty as well as monitoring and recording his vital signs. 

On the arrival of the ambulance, Rebecca handed over the casualty to their care and continued onto her cadet meeting.

Oliver Swettenham
Aged 12

In January 2011, Oliver was waiting at a bus stop on his way home from school when an elderly gentleman collapsed. 

He remained calm and checked his responses, airway and breathing, and discovered that he wasn't.

Another schoolboy called for an ambulance and Oliver requested help from someone older to perform mouth to mouth. He gave them instructions while he performed chest compressions until the rapid response car arrived.

He continued CPR while the ambulance crew set up their equipment.

Oliver was commended by the paramedics and told had he not performed CPR the man would have died.

Sadly, the man passed away later.

Daniel Taylor Sweet
Aged 17

In February 2010, Daniel was climbing a route called the Gran Diagonal in the Spanish Pyrenees with his father and his cousin Sam, aged 18. They were climbing alongside a Spanish party of three.

Daniel and his group finished the climb and reached the summit just as the sun was setting.

Conditions had made the progress very difficult and slow and all three members were very tired but in particular, Daniel's father had found the climb exhausting. The descent from the summit proved to be both difficult and dangerous and the weather began to deteriorate.

On reaching the start of the descent, they could not find the abseil anchors despite searching for several hours. The condition of Daniel's father was deteriorating and hyperthermia was beginning to take hold. The weather worsened and they were hit with high winds and driving snow.

The group called the rescue services but were told the police couldn't reach them until the morning and they would have to find their own way down. 

Despite guidance from the police they still could not find the anchors.

At this point the Spanish team and Sam said they were going to abseil down the mountain into unknown territory.

Daniel knew his father wasn't capable and that it would be highly dangerous for the others. He said he would stay on the mountain and dig a snow cave for him and his father to spend the night in.

He then showed tremendous leadership and strength in persuading the rest of the team to stay with him and his father.

The snow cave took several hours to dig and Daniel kept his father active and warm by getting him to help dig as well. Once the hole was complete, they all got inside and used everyting at their disposal to stay warm . Daniel ensured his father was insulated from the ground at all times and sacrificed his gloves and spare clothes to help keep him warm. 

Throughout the night, Daniel talked to both his father and Sam to keep them awake and moving, to promote circulation to the extremities. With a lack of gloves and spare clothes, Daniel suffered the worst frostbite in the group. 

The rescue team arrived early in the morning but the group had to walk down as the helicopter could not reach them in the appalling conditions. After an abseil descent and several hours of walking in snow shoes, they reached the base of the mountain and were taken to hospital for treatment. 

Daniel had second degree frostbite to his right hand and left foot which required medical repatriation in an air ambulance. 

His father received first degree frostbite to his right hand and both feet.

Cassandra Tyler - St John Ambulance Cadet
Aged 12

In the summer of 2009, Cassandra was present when her Grandmother, aged 52, collapsed in the family home. Cassandra took charge and asked her mother to call an ambulance while she commenced CPR.

Cassandra calmly continued to maintain cardiac compressions and mouth to mouth for over 15 minutes and continued to assist the paramedics when they arrived. 

Sadly her Grandmother did not survive but Cassandra bravely returned to cadets to complete her Young First Aid qualification.

Kyle Wright
Aged 14

In August 2010, Kyle was in Grimsby town centre when he saw a man have his face and neck slashed with a broken bottle. With no hesitation, he went to the aid of the victim even though the situation was quite volatile. Fortunately, the assailant left the scene. 

Kyle asked his friend to call for an ambulance and used a friend's top to stem the flow of blood. He kept pressure on the wound to reduce the blood loss and kept talking to the casualty to reassure him.

Paramedics arrived shortly afterwards and took the casualty to hospital.

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