USAISR Soldier Springs into Action, Saves Local Man
A Soldier from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas provided life-saving medical care to an injured man at a local auto repair shop in San Antonio on October 31.
Staff Sgt. Daphney Jean-Felix, a medical laboratory specialist, ran to the aid of a shop employee who accidently ran over his leg with his own truck. The injury resulted in a broken leg that was bleeding profusely. With the assistance of another employee, Jean-Felix carried the injured man to a safe location to render aid.
"I was in a tunnel vision," explained Jean-Felix. "It was surreal. I'm just glad that I was able to assist, even if it was some basic medical intervention."
Initially, Jean-Felix was told that the injury was to the employee's foot as opposed to the lower leg. After noticing the severity of the injury, the quick-thinking Soldier asked the owner of the establishment to call 9-1-1. Jean-Felix then grabbed a belt from another employee, fashioned it into a tourniquet, and applied it to the victim's leg to control the bleeding.
"I saw the bone extrusion and figured we needed to stop the bleeding," he said.
The same rigorous training Jean-Felix used to acquire his Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) in 2018 was, for the first time, put to the test during a real-life medical emergency. Jean-Felix noticed that the employees and patrons at the auto repair shop had no idea of what to do for the injured man before he sprang into action.
Capt. Kennedy Mdaki, the program manager of the USAISR's Blood and Shock Resuscitation Combat Casualty Care Research Team (CRT) and Jean-Felix's supervisor said he was not surprised to hear his Soldier's actions.
"He's an outstanding Soldier and leader who is proficient in the Army's Warrior Tasks and drills," Mdaki said. "As the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) in Charge of two out of the five CRTs, he always puts the welfare of the team first. He's a great mentor."
Mdaki added that Jean-Felix recently mentored a junior Soldier to earn his EFMB and Air Assault qualification as well as a junior commissioned officer to earn the EFMB.
"As you can see, the injured civilian had one of the Army's best NCOs on-site," said Mdaki. Jean-Felix doesn't consider himself a hero, just fortunate to be at the right place, at the right time. He encourages every Soldier to be ready if in the same situation.
"I implore all Soldiers to attend CLS [combat lifesaver course] and get EFMB qualified, because you never know where you might find yourself," he said.