CRESTVIEW — With a giggle, Skylar Calhoun, 7, got on the floor and put her feet up on her chair. With her legs elevated, the Brownie Scout demonstrated the position in which a person in shock should be placed.
Skylar and 19 pals in Girl Scout Troop 676 learned outdoor safety and basic first aid techniques from7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) medics Sgts. Fred Gonzalez and Matthew Roper.
Skylar’s dad, Staff Sgt. Kirby Calhoun, was instrumental in arranging his comrades and their commander, Capt. Riley McEvoy’s, visit with the troop.
“They have a lot of training,” Calhoun said while introducing the medics. “They work in hospitals and in the field and do a lot of cool stuff. Even when it’s dangerous they come and take care of us.”
Adult leader Jaime Tambone, who started the troop with just four girls two years ago, said speakers from various backgrounds benefit the 27 girls as they earn different merit badges.
GOOD QUESTIONS
While visiting the troop’s meeting Monday afternoon, Roper and Gonzalez were peppered with questions.
“What do you do if you’re whitewater rafting and someone falls out of the boat and you can’t catch up with them?” Autumn Bell asked.
Rafters should be advised in advance to swim at an angle to escape the water’s current, get to shore and wait for the boat to rescue them, Roper advised.
The girls’ questions varied from snake and shark bites to broken limbs, asthma attacks, drowning, broken bones, sprains, allergic reactions, poison ivy and “really poisonous spiders.”
In all cases, Gonzalez stressed, “keep calm. It doesn’t help if everyone’s freaking out. Make sure the person’s calm and be calm yourself.”
The medics explained that most wildlife bites or stings only if disturbed or surprised. Hikers and campers should watch where they place their hands and feet to avoid an attack, they said.
“Don’t stick your hands in any dark holes,” Roper said, noting there are only two poisonous spiders in the area, the black widow and the brown recluse, whose bite is the most dangerous due to flesh-killing toxins in its venom.
After their presentation, during which they displayed some of the contents of their first-aid backpacks, the medics said speaking to the girls was a pleasant change from the safety briefings they give fellow soldiers.
“It is different,” Roper said. “I had to think of some other words to use, though. It was fun.”
EmailNews Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitteror call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 7SFG(A) medics help Girl Scouts earn first aid merit badges (VIDEO/PHOTOS)
