I know what I was doing... I spent my morning kneeling on asphalt, broken glass, and blood. But I was glad I could be there, even if I couldn’t be a lot of help.
Paul and I were headed to the airport in Texas at 6:00 in the morning for our 7:30 flight to Ontario via IAH. At 6:15 Texas time, but much earlier in California 4:15, we stopped for gas on 183 near the 71 exit, on the way to the airport. As Paul was pumping gas and I was half asleep, sitting in the car we heard a thump and a crunch. Paul wrapped hard on the car window and motioned for me to get out of the car. I looked up to see a car with its bumper missing pulling off to the side of the road. I got out and asked what happened. Paul hadn't seen the accident and at first it appeared to be a fender bender, but two trucks were pulling to the side of the road and I saw something dark lying in the ditch across the 6 lane highway. It was dark and I was unsure of what I was seeing, but I told Paul we should probably help. We are trained first responders and you never know if someone needs assistance and if anyone else who has stopped is able to help.
I ran across the freeway while Paul ran inside the station to call 9-1-1 (he used a land line because it is easier for emergency personnel to tell exactly where you are located and everyone else was surely on their cell phones calling already). Once I got there, I could see immediately that it was good Paul had been paying attention. It was a motorcycle vehicle accident and there was a victim badly injured lying in the middle of the freeway. There were 4 or 5 people standing around trying to figure out what to do, but probably untrained in first aid and possibly new to dealing with an emergency. They had obviously called emergency (as the one lady told me) and the one lady was trying to call someone for the victim. I introduced myself (my name is, can I help kind of thing) while running over to talk to the victim. He was conscious and alert, so I grabbed his hand and asked him his name. He was bloody from hitting the pavement with his face, but had a helmet on and said that his head actually felt okay. He said he didn’t want to move because he was in pain, and I told him not to of course! However, I thought he had said he couldn’t move, so I asked if he could wiggle his toes. He said yes, he could feel his toes. There really wasn’t much more I could do for him except keep him talking and monitor for shock.
A car with emergency lights on pulled up behind the wreckage (there was shattered glass, car carnage, bike pieces, and people everywhere, let alone the commuters trying to squeeze by in rush hour traffic). Originally I thought it was an off duty cop, but the lady surveyed the accident and did not approach me or the victim for a long while. Finally she came over and told me to not move him, and I affirmed that I had instructed him to not move.
It took a while for the ambulance to get there, but in the meantime I talked to the victim. He was worried that he didn’t want to look at his legs and that would just get him upset. I am sure he broke something, but his legs were just a little twisted and did not look bad (as in nothing protruding or lying at a horrible awkward angle). I checked his hands, but there were no broken bones there. Just scrapes and blood. His head, outside of his nose, which could have been just bloody or broken, only had some wounds, no additional fractures that were obvious. He will probably be missing teeth since his head did collide with the pavement, but his helmet saved him from having more serious injuries. He asked me to leave my number with someone, since he would like to send me a thank you and a bunch of roses. It was really sweet of him to say, especially given how he was feeling- I would not have been in the right frame of mind to be grateful while I was lying injured on the freeway. It was enough to hear him say how grateful he was, that really touched me. (Just as a side note, as a professional first responder, I couldn’t accept a gift anyway.) He also kept up a good spirit, saying what a way to miss work!
The ambulance arrived first, but shortly after that the fire truck got there. I told the victim that I could see the ambulance, but they were on the other side of 183. The pulled up, set up cones, and slowly made their way to us, prompting the victim to ask where they walking to the accident? It took them a few seconds to survey the scene before I felt like they wanted to take over control. I left them with the information I had gathered from the victim, they brought out the backboard, checked his pupil dilation and checked for chest injuries. I asked if they needed my information, and was told if I hadn’t witnessed the accident I was free to go but thanks for the assistance. As I walked across the median, I realized I was covered in blood splatter. I asked the paramedic at the ambulance for some wipes and once we crossed the highway to the gas station and I began to clean up, it was then that the adrenaline kicked in and I started to shake all over. I didn’t feel right again for about two hours (it probably helped throw off my blood sugar) and I still see images of the accident. All and all, not one of the saddest emergencies I have assisted in, but the one with the most impact (water tends to minimize broken bones and bloody body parts). The victim will have some recovery, but he will walk again, and his helmet probably saved his life.
It is often hard to know what to do in an emergency. Paul and I teach many classes for first responders – CPR, First aid, O2 administration, water safety, but it is hard to feel prepared after taking just a few hours of class. We have both had more experience dealing with emergencies than some people, but it never gets easier seeing someone else get hurt, nor does the adrenaline stop coming when you are called to act, and it is sometimes hard to know when to act. My simple advice is to do no harm (you can always just be a voice of calm for a victim if you know how to do nothing else) and to always stop to make sure the situation is really under control, because more often than not, it isn’t.
Paul and I were headed to the airport in Texas at 6:00 in the morning for our 7:30 flight to Ontario via IAH. At 6:15 Texas time, but much earlier in California 4:15, we stopped for gas on 183 near the 71 exit, on the way to the airport. As Paul was pumping gas and I was half asleep, sitting in the car we heard a thump and a crunch. Paul wrapped hard on the car window and motioned for me to get out of the car. I looked up to see a car with its bumper missing pulling off to the side of the road. I got out and asked what happened. Paul hadn't seen the accident and at first it appeared to be a fender bender, but two trucks were pulling to the side of the road and I saw something dark lying in the ditch across the 6 lane highway. It was dark and I was unsure of what I was seeing, but I told Paul we should probably help. We are trained first responders and you never know if someone needs assistance and if anyone else who has stopped is able to help.
I ran across the freeway while Paul ran inside the station to call 9-1-1 (he used a land line because it is easier for emergency personnel to tell exactly where you are located and everyone else was surely on their cell phones calling already). Once I got there, I could see immediately that it was good Paul had been paying attention. It was a motorcycle vehicle accident and there was a victim badly injured lying in the middle of the freeway. There were 4 or 5 people standing around trying to figure out what to do, but probably untrained in first aid and possibly new to dealing with an emergency. They had obviously called emergency (as the one lady told me) and the one lady was trying to call someone for the victim. I introduced myself (my name is, can I help kind of thing) while running over to talk to the victim. He was conscious and alert, so I grabbed his hand and asked him his name. He was bloody from hitting the pavement with his face, but had a helmet on and said that his head actually felt okay. He said he didn’t want to move because he was in pain, and I told him not to of course! However, I thought he had said he couldn’t move, so I asked if he could wiggle his toes. He said yes, he could feel his toes. There really wasn’t much more I could do for him except keep him talking and monitor for shock.
A car with emergency lights on pulled up behind the wreckage (there was shattered glass, car carnage, bike pieces, and people everywhere, let alone the commuters trying to squeeze by in rush hour traffic). Originally I thought it was an off duty cop, but the lady surveyed the accident and did not approach me or the victim for a long while. Finally she came over and told me to not move him, and I affirmed that I had instructed him to not move.
It took a while for the ambulance to get there, but in the meantime I talked to the victim. He was worried that he didn’t want to look at his legs and that would just get him upset. I am sure he broke something, but his legs were just a little twisted and did not look bad (as in nothing protruding or lying at a horrible awkward angle). I checked his hands, but there were no broken bones there. Just scrapes and blood. His head, outside of his nose, which could have been just bloody or broken, only had some wounds, no additional fractures that were obvious. He will probably be missing teeth since his head did collide with the pavement, but his helmet saved him from having more serious injuries. He asked me to leave my number with someone, since he would like to send me a thank you and a bunch of roses. It was really sweet of him to say, especially given how he was feeling- I would not have been in the right frame of mind to be grateful while I was lying injured on the freeway. It was enough to hear him say how grateful he was, that really touched me. (Just as a side note, as a professional first responder, I couldn’t accept a gift anyway.) He also kept up a good spirit, saying what a way to miss work!
The ambulance arrived first, but shortly after that the fire truck got there. I told the victim that I could see the ambulance, but they were on the other side of 183. The pulled up, set up cones, and slowly made their way to us, prompting the victim to ask where they walking to the accident? It took them a few seconds to survey the scene before I felt like they wanted to take over control. I left them with the information I had gathered from the victim, they brought out the backboard, checked his pupil dilation and checked for chest injuries. I asked if they needed my information, and was told if I hadn’t witnessed the accident I was free to go but thanks for the assistance. As I walked across the median, I realized I was covered in blood splatter. I asked the paramedic at the ambulance for some wipes and once we crossed the highway to the gas station and I began to clean up, it was then that the adrenaline kicked in and I started to shake all over. I didn’t feel right again for about two hours (it probably helped throw off my blood sugar) and I still see images of the accident. All and all, not one of the saddest emergencies I have assisted in, but the one with the most impact (water tends to minimize broken bones and bloody body parts). The victim will have some recovery, but he will walk again, and his helmet probably saved his life.
It is often hard to know what to do in an emergency. Paul and I teach many classes for first responders – CPR, First aid, O2 administration, water safety, but it is hard to feel prepared after taking just a few hours of class. We have both had more experience dealing with emergencies than some people, but it never gets easier seeing someone else get hurt, nor does the adrenaline stop coming when you are called to act, and it is sometimes hard to know when to act. My simple advice is to do no harm (you can always just be a voice of calm for a victim if you know how to do nothing else) and to always stop to make sure the situation is really under control, because more often than not, it isn’t.
4 Comments:
Talk about timing though! If I'd stopped for gas 5 min later, we'd have missed it completely. If we'd stopped 5 min earlier, we would have been stuck behind all the traffic.
As it was, we literally walked up to the gate for our flight as the plane was calling our rows for boarding.
Sure there was little substantial that could be done, but it wasn't all that life threatening (thankfully). Overall, I'm sure he's a lot better off for having someone willing to get involved instead of just standing around with their thumbs up their a**es.
You did the right thing. I love you for being willing to jump in and help... be it first aid in an accident or taking care of feral cats.
-- Paul
Me too, glad we helped. I just realized that I was awake and running around for 22 hours yesterday. 3 am in Texas until well after 11 pm in California.
You guys are awesome! Love your pic Laura...
It was a good thing you were there, sounds like everyone standing around the accident was just stunned. What a crazy morning! I am glad you two got home safely.
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