abckidsmom
Dances with Patients
- 3,380
- 5
- 36
We walked past a house in our neighborhood where a man was working on a car. My 4 yo noticed it, and we talked about the wheel being off, and the man's son was standing there watching him...peaceful Saturday afternoon. We got just out of sight of the car, and we heard screaming- female screaming and child screaming. I debated a second, then send my 3 and 4 yos to a neighbor lady who was standing out in her yard and ran back to him.
The frame of the car was on his head, the rotor of the car was on his right upper chest. He was awake, but not breathing or able to talk. The jack that the car had fallen off of was laying there, but I couldn't figure out how to work the stupid thing. I was trying to close it and put it under the car and get the car off of him, I was yelling for someone to call 911. I had left my phone at the house when we went walking. I tried lifting the car off of him, and he grunted a little when I picked it up some, but nothing. I told the screaming women around to get a man to help, NOW.
Right after that, a man showed up, a neighbor from the next apartment. With him and I on the front of the car, we lifted the car off of the man, then looked around, wondering what the heck we were going to do now. The wife was screaming and running around. Somehow, we got her to grab him by the ankles and pull him out from under the car. It wasn't pretty, certainly not ideal, but he was out from under the car and breathing again.
At that point, the man was awake, talking and complaining of head pain and side pain. He had a deep ridge of a depressed skull fracture on the right forehead, and an unstable right chest, not complaining of shortness of breath, completely oriented.
The fire station is just 2-3 blocks away, and right after that I heard the engine and medic pull out onto the street. They came, and arrived and the medic stood there gaping, clipboard in hand while the engine crew went to the medic unit (20 yards away) to get the bag and equipment.
Blah blah blah with the details, but the end result was that we landed the helicoptor in the field across the street, and I helped the crew with getting him packaged, and transferred over to the flight crew.
Then I went and met my kids and walked back to my house.
So here I sit with the, "dang! Did that just happen, for real?" My 17 month old was in my baby backpack the whole time. My 4 yo was really aware of what happened, and was scared, the 3 yo was a little oblivious, but we spent a long time at bedtime talking about how the people were all working to help him, and she did a good job by standing quietly with the neighbor.
And all I can think of is the two minutes that I was fumbling with that jack and looking at him growing more and more still, and thinking that if I couldn't get the car off of him somehow, he'd be dead before the engine crew got there.
They were 9 minutes from the time it happened to being on scene, and it would have taken them a couple of minutes to make a plan and get him out. He would have been dead.
And now my back is sore, and I'm supposed to run my first 5K in the morning. Sheesh.
The frame of the car was on his head, the rotor of the car was on his right upper chest. He was awake, but not breathing or able to talk. The jack that the car had fallen off of was laying there, but I couldn't figure out how to work the stupid thing. I was trying to close it and put it under the car and get the car off of him, I was yelling for someone to call 911. I had left my phone at the house when we went walking. I tried lifting the car off of him, and he grunted a little when I picked it up some, but nothing. I told the screaming women around to get a man to help, NOW.
Right after that, a man showed up, a neighbor from the next apartment. With him and I on the front of the car, we lifted the car off of the man, then looked around, wondering what the heck we were going to do now. The wife was screaming and running around. Somehow, we got her to grab him by the ankles and pull him out from under the car. It wasn't pretty, certainly not ideal, but he was out from under the car and breathing again.
At that point, the man was awake, talking and complaining of head pain and side pain. He had a deep ridge of a depressed skull fracture on the right forehead, and an unstable right chest, not complaining of shortness of breath, completely oriented.
The fire station is just 2-3 blocks away, and right after that I heard the engine and medic pull out onto the street. They came, and arrived and the medic stood there gaping, clipboard in hand while the engine crew went to the medic unit (20 yards away) to get the bag and equipment.
Blah blah blah with the details, but the end result was that we landed the helicoptor in the field across the street, and I helped the crew with getting him packaged, and transferred over to the flight crew.
Then I went and met my kids and walked back to my house.
So here I sit with the, "dang! Did that just happen, for real?" My 17 month old was in my baby backpack the whole time. My 4 yo was really aware of what happened, and was scared, the 3 yo was a little oblivious, but we spent a long time at bedtime talking about how the people were all working to help him, and she did a good job by standing quietly with the neighbor.
And all I can think of is the two minutes that I was fumbling with that jack and looking at him growing more and more still, and thinking that if I couldn't get the car off of him somehow, he'd be dead before the engine crew got there.
They were 9 minutes from the time it happened to being on scene, and it would have taken them a couple of minutes to make a plan and get him out. He would have been dead.
And now my back is sore, and I'm supposed to run my first 5K in the morning. Sheesh.
Last edited by a moderator: