Quick thinking and swift action by Royal Australian Navy officers has helped save the life of a driver following a dramatic accident on a roadway in California, United States.
While travelling via Uber back to the destroyer HMAS Brisbane, berthed at US Navy Base San Diego, Lieutenant Jack Stanhope and Sub-Lieutenant Liam Lord observed an adjacent vehicle lose control, swerve suddenly and flip multiple times before coming to a stop as a small fire broke out underneath the wrecked car.
The officers immediately stopped their Uber, notified emergency services and responded to the incident.
After initial attempts to extinguish the fire before it could engulf the vehicle, Lieutenant Stanhope worked with civilians to render assistance to rescue the driver from the burning wreck while Sub-Lieutenant Lord continued fighting the fire.
Sub-Lieutenant Lord eventually extinguished it using dirt from the roadside while the driver was safely rescued and transferred to an ambulance for transport to hospital.
Both officers remained on the scene to assist local law enforcement officers investigating the traffic incident before returning safely to their ship.
Director General Maritime Operations and Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Commodore Jonathan Ley praised the officers for their actions as impromptu first responders.
"Their swift and selfless actions to save the life of a civilian of their host nation while deployed reflected Defence values and were in the finest traditions of the Royal Australian Navy," Commodore Ley said.
"Thanks to their quick thinking, a driver has survived a terrible ordeal and local emergency services and law enforcement authorities were able to respond more effectively."
The Hobart-class guided missile destroyer Brisbane is in San Diego undergoing a scheduled maintenance period as part of an interchangeability deployment aimed at enabling closer interaction between the Australian and US navies.
The deployment will also include several combined training and capability enhancement activities.
