A FIRST aider who came across an overturned car and helped those who were injured is urging others to learn skills to be able to act in an emergency.

Sam Burston said learning first aid is crucial as “you never know when you will turn a corner and find a situation like I found”.

The 37-year-old said he was driving along Jubilee Drive on the Malvern Hills when, at the junction with Jubilee Drive, he was flagged down by two men saying their friend had been in an accident, the road was blocked and he should turn around.

Mr Burston, from Colwall, said: “I asked if everyone one was OK.

“They replied saying that their friend was bleeding but an ambulance was on its way.

“Concerned for the welfare of the driver and any passengers, I insisted I have a look. I was shocked to see the car upside down with the roof caved in, on a perilous section of Jubilee Drive. It looked serious.

"Fortunately everyone was out of the vehicle and conscious, however the driver was in shock and covered in blood.

“I have had basic first aid training and, fortunately, I was able to perform first aid, applying a compression bandage to the young man’s bleeding head and bleeding hand, and another bandage to one passenger's deeply cut hand. I was able to reassure the driver - who was suffering from shock - he was OK and none of his friends were seriously hurt.

“Once the paramedics arrived I was able to inform them what I had done and let them take over. Later on I discovered the driver and passengers were OK from police who blocked the road.”

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 8.40pm last Monday, to reports of an overturned car.

“One ambulance attended, there were four patients in total. A man was conveyed to Worcester Royal Hospital. It is always a great relief when ambulance staff arrive to find first aid being given, like this gentlemen was doing. While we give advice during a 999 call, it is always useful for people to have a basic knowledge of what to do.”

Mr Burston, an area manager for estate agent GlassHouse, added: “I spend a lot of time on the road and I always carry water, a good first aid kit and a torch in my car, just in case. I encourage all parents of newly qualified drivers to provide their children with the same, and better still do a first aid course.”