FORT DRUM, N.Y. (March 31, 2016) -- During Army basic training, Soldiers gain knowledge that will help them become proficient in all aspects of basic soldiering skills. One 10th Mountain Division (LI) Soldier used the first aid skills he learned in the Army to assist and provide support and triage for a wounded civilian outside of the call of duty.
Spc. Kyle Adams, an infantryman with B Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), was on leave Feb. 27 with his Family travelling to Clinton in Oneida County when they came upon an accident on the road.
"As we pulled up, there was a lot of pedestrian traffic because of some kind of festival going on later that night, and I noticed that a car was stopped in the middle of the road and there was something on the ground and someone standing next to it," Adams said. "As I got closer, I turned to my wife and said 'babe, I think that's someone in the road.'
"I pulled up and drove my car onto the curb and shut down traffic my way so people wouldn't be passing."
When Adams arrived at the scene of the accident, muscle memory from repetitive Army training kicked in, and he immediately started taking action.
"After seeing blood on the pavement, I turned around to run right back to my car to grab my first-aid kit, and luckily the woman who was standing next to the victim at the time was a nurse," Adams said. "We put (the victim) in the recovery position and put some gauze on her eyes."
After initial triage was performed, others with a medical background arrived to assist with the accident.
"Somebody else drove by who happened to be a paramedic, and he pulled his kit out of his car and started conducting further first aid, and that's when the rest of rescue (personnel) showed up," Adams said. "Then I helped her get loaded onto the stretcher and into the ambulance."
This wasn't Adams' first experience with providing first aid to the wounded, as he also assisted with a real-world casualty while the unit was training at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La., last year.
"I joined the Army because I wanted to help people and I knew I was capable of that," Adams said. "It really bothers me when you hear on the news … about people being hurt in the middle of a public square and nobody does anything, so I wanted to avoid being a bystander to hopefully make a difference."
Adams recalls learning most of what he knows about first aid from his Expert Infantryman Badge training, which tests Soldiers' infantry capabilities in very strict, technical and tactical detail.
"A large section of EIB is medical training, and with all the effort we put in to perfecting everything we do, muscle memory took over and I started taking action," Adams said. "I knew exactly what to do. Once you fully understand the situation, your training just takes over and you go right into it."
Although Adams' actions were not witnessed by the Soldiers in his unit, his supervisor explained the importance of other Soldiers to follow his example.
"If someone is in need, I think that we will respond. That's a normal human reaction … to want to help those in need, and by others hearing about what Adams did, they will think 'that's the right thing to do,'" said Staff Sgt. Royal Smith, mortar section leader and one of Adams' supervisors with Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, B Company, 1-87 Infantry.
"A lot of the guys in our platoon are a tight bunch, and we try to have our moral compasses straight. I know Adams sees it and (agrees) with it too," he added.
Smith went on to talk about it not just being a leader's responsibility to take care of Soldiers, but the responsibility of Soldiers to take care of others, including their battle buddies.
"For the junior enlisted Soldiers hearing about this, I feel they will have a stronger appreciation and comfort knowing they're in a unit where the Soldiers really do care and have a strong … will to help others," Smith said.
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