Hats off to this U.S. Air Force Pararescueman used his military training to save a man who bleeding out after a ski accident on the slopes of Switzerland.
The Air Force Times reports Senior Airman Sebastian d’Alton, of the 57th Rescue Squadron, was skiing in the Alps in January training for an upcoming avalanche, ski and crevasse rescue course when he came upon the severely wounded man. The man was being consoled by other skiers but no one seemed to be addressing his life threatening injuries.
D’Alton’s training with the 57th kicked in and he quickly snapped into action. He started assessing the injuries and located a significant gash on the man’s leg. D’Alton applied a tourniquet and packed the wound to stop blood loss, stabilizing the injured skier while they waited for ski patrol to arrive.
“I started with a basic sweep, just like in training. I then checked for any other injuries, controlled the bleeding and stabilized the wound as best as I could with what we had on hand.”
Ski patrol finally arrived on scene and transported the man off the mountain. Despite never performing an alpine rescue before Senior Airman Sebastian d’Alton quite possibly saved the skier’s life. Cheers to Senior Airman Sebastian d’Alton. Well done!
Images from airforcetimes.com