VILSECK, Germany (Army News Service, April 19, 2007) - After a tough week of training for the Army's Expert Field Medical Badge, Spc. Mary Salinas-Cantu of V Corps' 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, was looking forward to the weekend. Little did she know how soon she would put the training to use.
On March 31, Spc. Cantu and her husband, Spc. Ben Cantu, were driving when they came upon a crash scene with three bodies in the road.
"Check them out. I'll try to direct traffic away," Ben told his wife as they approached the scene.
Spc. Cantu scanned the victims to determine whether any needed immediate care. One, an elderly German man, was not breathing and had no pulse. The specialist quickly opened his airway with the jaw-thrust maneuver she had been taught to use when a victim could have a neck fracture, then began performing rescue breathing.
"I was nervous, but I kept calm and just let all my training come back to me," she said.
After a moment the man began to breathe and regained a pulse.
As the man began breathing, Spc. Cantu noticed Ben and two Soldiers - Staff Sgt. Francisco Bustoslimon and an unidentified sergeant major - directing traffic away from the scene. She stayed with the victims for about 35 minutes, until an ambulance and rescue helicopter arrived and emergency medical technicians took charge of the scene.
Spc. Cantu's life-saving performance has drawn her into the limelight. German reporters have told her story, but she waves off suggestions that her actions were extraordinary.
"I am not a hero," she said. "I think everybody would have done the same if they were in the same situation."
Spc. Cantu said she believes her newly gained medical skills and her experience have prepared her to care for Soldiers in combat if her unit deploys.
"I am confident that I can help injured Soldiers in Iraq," the 26-year-old Corpus Christi, Texas, native said. "I trained as if I was actually performing these skills in a combat zone."
Spc. Cantu, a patient administration technician with the the 2nd SCR's Medical Troop, usually spends her time admitting patients and tracking and filing medical documentation. Strictly speaking, she is not a medic, but she says that when she heard about the EFMB, she decided to earn it for herself.
"I am proud to be in the service, and I am extremely glad I get to work with some of the best medics in the Army," she said.
(Spc. Alfredo Jiminez Jr. writes for the 1st Armored Division Public Affairs Office.)
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