SAF NSFs turn social media darlings after rendering vital aid to motorcycle crash victim

Two full-time National Servicemen from the Singapore Armed Forces, Tan Hae San and Chung Jing Kai, have been hailed as heroes online after they rendered vital assistance to a motorcyclist who was drifting in and out of consciousness after being injured in a crash along Mandai Road, towards SLE/KJE, on Saturday around 11.20pm.

Tan and Chung, an instructor from Artillery Institute and a Combat Medic respectively, were on their way back to Khatib Camp after an outfield exercise at the time of the incident. The duo’s timely actions helped the motorcyclist stay alive until paramedics arrived and their civic-mindedness has attracted widespread praise on social media.

The story first broke when Facebook user Mohamad Klazick, an eyewitness at the accident site, shared how the NSFs went out of the line of duty to help the victim on Saturday:

Chung, who was alerted to Klazick’s post by his Warrant Officer, responded and said that he “didn’t really do much due to limited equipment and trained personnel.”

The SAF commended the young men on their Facebook page this evening:

“The civic-mindedness and kindness that these soldiers have shown are truly commendable despite the situation, and we salute them for their “Soldier Strong” spirit! Well done!”

Tan and Chung were interviewed by Army News, where the humble duo shared about their frame of mind when they stumbled upon the accident scene. Tan said:

“My first instinct was to try and see if there was anyone already on the scene providing support or help to the man. However, after seeing that there was no ambulance at the scene yet, I decided to step in to do what I could, even though I was not medically trained.”

“As a safety officer, you are trained to always keep a level head even in a very confusing and chaotic situation. We asked around if anyone had called the ambulance or the police. Once that was done, we just had to provide whatever support we could until help arrived.”

Chung also gave thanks for the training he received while serving his national service. He attributed the knowledge and skills he learnt from his combat medic training as key factors that helped him render aid. He added:

“The most we could do was to assess his condition, monitor his vitals and do things like redirecting the traffic flow, cordon off the area to make sure other vehicles didn’t come in. It looked like it was a spinal injury, so we couldn’t move him around too much, or his pain would actually worsen.”

Netizens have saluted the bold young men for contributing above and beyond their call of duty: