I was on a weekend getaway yesterday when I saw a man fall about 6 feet and land head first onto a concrete slab. I watched as at least 10-15 people walked by and did nothing but look down and keep walking. I got to the gentleman and he was bleeding severely from the back of his head and was unresponsive. There was no cell service at our location and I decided to try to help him first and then call for help. I was able to get a signal about 1/2 mile away, (very weak signal). My thought process was to try to control the bleeding, stabilize the head and neck, then call for help.
Once I got to him 2 other ladies came over to help, I showed one how to stabilize his head, then we moved him onto his side and I applied a dressing (my shirt) to his head, I felt so helpless, the only thing I could was try to control the bleeding and stabilize his head. I checked his vitals, his pulse was rapid, but strong, and his respirations were rapid and unlabored. I checked his pupils by shading his eyes and then exposing to the sunlight, they were dialated and slow to respond, his skin was pink, but cool. Once I felt the bleeding was stopped, and my helpers were going to stay and continue to stabilize his head, I went to call for help, the total time felt like an hour, but in reality it was just about 10 minutes. As I left his family arrived and told me not to call for help, they would. I stayed with the man and he started to come around after about 15 minutes. I told him that his family was going to call for help, and he became very agitated, and insisted that he was going to be OK and did not need an ambulance. I tried to explain to him that after losing consiousness he should get checked out by a Dr., again he was very firm in not wanting any help. I saw that the entire family was getting very anxious and I began to feel very uncomfortable, they thanked me and said they would take it from there, so reluctantly I left the area and stopped to watch what they did, they got into their van and left.
The whole way home I began to second guess myself and thought that I should have called for help first, but then I started to think, with the signifigance of the bleeding and the fact that he was not responding, I did the right thing. I have no idea if the man ever went to the hospital or not, we were at least 70 miles from the nearest hospital. I have run this through my head for 2 days now and feel that I did the wrong thing by not calling for help first, I am a student so I work for no EMS agency. I could not leave with out calling 911, and explained the situation. They said they would send someone out, I waited not too far away and watched the family leave with the man. I felt at that point I had done what I could and just left it at that.
I am now very confused, I kept thinking I should follow the van and get a plate number, but then, I thought that may be it was not any of my business at that point, if they wanted help, they would get it. I don't know, did I do the right thing? Or should have done something different? I feel in a way I did enough, but yet in another way, I could have done more.
Once I got to him 2 other ladies came over to help, I showed one how to stabilize his head, then we moved him onto his side and I applied a dressing (my shirt) to his head, I felt so helpless, the only thing I could was try to control the bleeding and stabilize his head. I checked his vitals, his pulse was rapid, but strong, and his respirations were rapid and unlabored. I checked his pupils by shading his eyes and then exposing to the sunlight, they were dialated and slow to respond, his skin was pink, but cool. Once I felt the bleeding was stopped, and my helpers were going to stay and continue to stabilize his head, I went to call for help, the total time felt like an hour, but in reality it was just about 10 minutes. As I left his family arrived and told me not to call for help, they would. I stayed with the man and he started to come around after about 15 minutes. I told him that his family was going to call for help, and he became very agitated, and insisted that he was going to be OK and did not need an ambulance. I tried to explain to him that after losing consiousness he should get checked out by a Dr., again he was very firm in not wanting any help. I saw that the entire family was getting very anxious and I began to feel very uncomfortable, they thanked me and said they would take it from there, so reluctantly I left the area and stopped to watch what they did, they got into their van and left.
The whole way home I began to second guess myself and thought that I should have called for help first, but then I started to think, with the signifigance of the bleeding and the fact that he was not responding, I did the right thing. I have no idea if the man ever went to the hospital or not, we were at least 70 miles from the nearest hospital. I have run this through my head for 2 days now and feel that I did the wrong thing by not calling for help first, I am a student so I work for no EMS agency. I could not leave with out calling 911, and explained the situation. They said they would send someone out, I waited not too far away and watched the family leave with the man. I felt at that point I had done what I could and just left it at that.
I am now very confused, I kept thinking I should follow the van and get a plate number, but then, I thought that may be it was not any of my business at that point, if they wanted help, they would get it. I don't know, did I do the right thing? Or should have done something different? I feel in a way I did enough, but yet in another way, I could have done more.
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Send one of the ladies who were standing by.