LACoGurneyjockey
Forum Asst. Chief
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I have a question...
On a BLS ambulance out of our service area, we are on the freeway driving back from the hospital in a neighboring city when we come upon a rear end collision, 2 vehicles, in lane #3 lane of 4. Driver of the first vehicle is fine, second driver states he's just shaken up, and his lower back is a little sore, saying he doesn't feel he needs to go to the hospital. Traffic is going around us in the #1 and #3 lanes at 30-40mph, so I figure we'll just clear them from the freeway, wait for highway patrol and be on our way. Advise them that we'll block the #3 and 4 lanes and they can pull their vehicles to the shoulder.
Both vehicles now on the shoulder, go back to the driver of the second vehicle to say highway patrol is on the way and be sure he does not want transport. He is now c/o 7:10 back pain radiating to his neck and shoulders.
At that point my partner and I begin back-boarding as local Fire arrives and takes over. They finish spinal and transport code 3 to nearest receiving.
Did I make a mistake by instructing him to clear his vehicle from traffic? I did not feel the scene was safe in the #3 lane with traffic on either side at 40mph. Should I have waited for the fire/ems response of that city rather than acted w/ my partner to make the scene safe? In the brief contact I made, the driver stated he was shaken up and "sore", but upon further questioning denied any "pain", and stated he did not want to go to the hospital. At that point it just looked like a minor fender bender, dangerously located in the middle of the freeway.
In short, what if anything should we have done differently? In our service area we are dispatched second to the FD, and 99% of the time have Fire and/or PD on scene upon arrival, and so this was something neither I nor my partner had previously had to handle.
On a BLS ambulance out of our service area, we are on the freeway driving back from the hospital in a neighboring city when we come upon a rear end collision, 2 vehicles, in lane #3 lane of 4. Driver of the first vehicle is fine, second driver states he's just shaken up, and his lower back is a little sore, saying he doesn't feel he needs to go to the hospital. Traffic is going around us in the #1 and #3 lanes at 30-40mph, so I figure we'll just clear them from the freeway, wait for highway patrol and be on our way. Advise them that we'll block the #3 and 4 lanes and they can pull their vehicles to the shoulder.
Both vehicles now on the shoulder, go back to the driver of the second vehicle to say highway patrol is on the way and be sure he does not want transport. He is now c/o 7:10 back pain radiating to his neck and shoulders.
At that point my partner and I begin back-boarding as local Fire arrives and takes over. They finish spinal and transport code 3 to nearest receiving.
Did I make a mistake by instructing him to clear his vehicle from traffic? I did not feel the scene was safe in the #3 lane with traffic on either side at 40mph. Should I have waited for the fire/ems response of that city rather than acted w/ my partner to make the scene safe? In the brief contact I made, the driver stated he was shaken up and "sore", but upon further questioning denied any "pain", and stated he did not want to go to the hospital. At that point it just looked like a minor fender bender, dangerously located in the middle of the freeway.
In short, what if anything should we have done differently? In our service area we are dispatched second to the FD, and 99% of the time have Fire and/or PD on scene upon arrival, and so this was something neither I nor my partner had previously had to handle.
