On Saturday 5th June, Cadet Corporal Josh Howard of Lingfield and Feldbridge Detachments was travelling home from work with his mother, Sam. They drove into their road to find an elderly man lying unconscious in the middle of it. The man's wife and two friends were standing next to him, visibly upset and whilst his mother stopped the car, Cpl Howard jumped into action.
He took control of the situation immediately, in a calm and sensible manner. He assessed the situation and noticed quickly that the patient was bleeding from a head wound. Josh advised them that the gentleman needs to be put into the recovery position, which he then did, whilst his mother called for an ambulance. Josh continued to ask questions and provide reassurance and after a number of minutes the gentleman regained consciousness, but was very confused and unable to answer Josh’s simple questions, such as ‘Can you tell me what day of the week it is today?’
Cpl Howard remained calm and spoke in a kind, but firm, manner when the patient started trying to sit up. It transpired that the man was a 79 year old diabetic. He had tripped on the pavement and stumbled into the road before falling and banging his head hard on the ground, sustaining a broken eye socket. Josh was fully aware of the potential severity and seriousness that all this could mean and handed over to the paramedics when they arrived on the scene. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the NHS for sending units within roughly 6 minutes! An amazing response.
Interestingly, another local man approached Josh to praise his efforts. He advised us that he volunteers for St. John Ambulance and when he saw what was going on and how well Josh had taken control of the situation, suggested that perhaps he should consider becoming involved with their charity.
From all of us at Surrey ACF and the wider Army Cadet family, WELL DONE JOSH! Your swift actions fundamentally assisted another human's life and you should feel proud of what you achieved!
