Witness an Emergency: Do you stop?

[TheDoll]

this thread reminds me of a thought that i've often had as i've been completing my emt-b course. this doesn't have to do with an mva, but...
i work part time in a restaraunt, and i'm always afraid that someone is going to go into a-shock or choke or something. other ppl i work with have said things like "it's great that you're an emt now bc you can take care of all of the chokers, etc". i'm always like, "shhh! don't tell anyone". i don't want to have to do something like that if front of 200+ people! luckily, those things seem to always happen when i'm not around. in fact, someone just choked on a piece of steak last tues (today is saturday). she lived.

 

[jeepmedic]

I'm going to go to the golf course.

 

[Stevo]

but sooner or later you'll have your trauma call in front of spectators Doll we all have....admitedly it doesn't make it any easier, just keep your focus and don't let the armchair medics rattle you.

due to your current employ, and subsequent steak scenario, i'll refrain from my 'assualt with a deadly meatloaf' tale , long story and it goes much better with a few conscripted mourners....

KEVD18 brings up a good commitment/triage point as well. If in fact you are the first and only ems'er to stop, assess the situation and make the calls (if you can) before committing to what you feel is your best usage patient wise

Perhaps some think more about being perpared, and supplement their jump kits accordingly. Maybe some even carry a turkey baster here? hey, i know it's cajun technology, but it beats standing around with your thumb up your a**

come to think of it, jeepmedic's got the best reply yet. They have these nice people who cart out all manner of booze on the green, methinks it's one of the few 'sports' one is allowed to (or at least not shunned and flogged) for participating impared in, maybe pool is another

at any rate, short of armageddon, one is defintley 'off the clock' after a few toddy's

cheers!

~S~

 

[Jon]

...i work part time in a restaraunt, and i'm always afraid that someone is going to go into a-shock or choke or something. other ppl i work with have said things like "it's great that you're an emt now bc you can take care of all of the chokers, etc". i'm always like, "shhh! don't tell anyone". i don't want to have to do something like that if front of 200+ people!...

Yeah... I've got to type up my excitement from the weekend and post it.... the short version - I was working somewhere and sort of wittnessed a stabbing.... yeah... that was fun. I was onscene before the PD and
EMS... Yeah.

 

[trauma1534]

I'm just gonna go brrrrmmmm brrrrrmmmm and keep getting it. Unless I really feel froggy... but most of the time, I'm just gonna keep getting it, and go where i set out to go. There are too many out there who are willing to come to the scene for all the glory of it. Let them have thier chance to shine. I've shined enough in my time.

 

[jeepmedic]

I've shined enough in my time.

Like a rusty nail. :lol: :blink:

 

[Mercy4Angels]

if it just happened and theres no police on scene ill stop and see if all parties are ok and activate the local EMS ASAP to at least get a rig on scene.

 

[Ignacio_emt_vn]

I've had it where a car had hit a parked big rig. Guys had head trauma and was bleeding. All i could do was keep him calm and take vitals (had my bp cuff and steth but not my trauma bag.......coming home from nursing school). Then i just called 911 and the rest was history. What was cool was a friend of mine came up on scene. Memories.......

 

[yowzer]

This is why it's really not such a brilliant idea to stop in your POV:

http://www.komotv.com/news/local/5050906.html

Good Samaritan falls to death while helping crash victim

By Associated Press
CORBETT, Ore. (AP) - A Vancouver, Wash., man who stopped to help at the seen of an accident on Interstate 84 plummeted to his death when he jumped over the guardrail to dodge a passing truck.

Brian Allen Bernier, 37, a native of West Richland, Wash., had stopped to help the crash victim about five miles east of Multnomah Falls just before 10 p.m. Friday night, the Tri-City Herald of Kennewick, Wash., reported.

A passing truck forced him over the guardrail, where there was a 50-foot drop, according to an Oregon State Police report.

A state patrolman performed CPR on Bernier, but emergency workers arrived 15 minutes later and declared him dead.

The driver Bernier stopped to help, Macon Lee Davis, 32, of Portland, was treated and released from Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham. He was cited for driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, and possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.

Bernier graduated from Hanford High School in 1987 and later joined the Coast Guard, serving in the Gulf War. He was serving in the reserves and worked for the Postal Service in Vancouver, Wash., where he lived with his wife, a stepdaughter and his son.

 

[CGFD37]

In Wisconsin we can act under "Good Samaritan" if we perform within our scope. Response times can be long in some parts of my county. Some first responder units dont even have a rig, they just respond in their personal vehicles. They are all volunteer, so they are protected under good samaritan.

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Hey Doll! we just had one of my students who also works in a restarant save a toddler's life that was choked on a piece of bread and stopped breathing. Got to tell you, I'm very proud of him! and also Doll when the time comes you will do what you have to do when it comes to a person that is in distress and you are there to help. You will be fine!

 

[macinfire]

Well, yes I do.......

I also stop for blatant littering I see also..... I parked at Wal Mart last night and was walking through the parking lot and saw a minivan parked in one of the handicapped parking spaces...I then saw a huge bag getting thrown out the window and stuff spilled out of it when it hit the ground. I couldn't believe what I had seen...

I walked up to the vehicle, and tapped on the window....an elderly lady was the only one in the vehicle. I asked her if she dropped something???? LOL. She immediately said, "IT'S NOT MINE". I said, what do you mean it's not yours, I saw you throw it out your window!!! She said, "I'm leaving it for Wal-Mart"......she drove off mad.

Wow.

 

[fm_emt]

I walked up to the vehicle, and tapped on the window....an elderly lady was the only one in the vehicle. I asked her if she dropped something???? LOL. She immediately said, "IT'S NOT MINE". I said, what do you mean it's not yours, I saw you throw it out your window!!! She said, "I'm leaving it for Wal-Mart"......she drove off mad.

We see stuff like that here. People will actually throw trash at the Caltrans crews and yell "pick that up" before speeding off.

Too many people with poor moral values. :-(

 

[firecoins]

I stopped at a car accident last month in NYC that I witnessed. Occurred on the FDR highway by the United Nations building. Some car doing 80 mph rear ended 2 cars that had stopped in traffic. The 2 occupants both went through the windsheild and survived!

 

[Epi-do]

It has been a little bit over a year since I stopped at the scene of an accident. It was a head-on between two SUVs. One driver was out of her vehicle and walking around. I got a by-stander to hold c-spine on her. The other driver was unresponsive and still in his vehicle. I checked to make sure he was still breathing, and held c-spine on him until FD arrived. Turned out I knew the officer off the engine, so I stuck around and helped them package both patients since the next responding apparatus was quite a ways out.

Ordinarily, I don't stop. If it is a severe looking incident and EMS/FD/PD hasn't arrived yet, I do stop but that hasn't happened very often. I have only ever stopped at 3 accidents and 1 house fire in 7 1/2 years of being an EMT.

 

[firecoins]

I generally stop at emergencies. I have stopped at a 10 car accidents, a diabetic, a way too drunk friend, a broken ankle by another friend, a head injury at a martial arts tourney I was attending, a neighbor with a head injury, a bicylcist who went head first over the bars, another one who broke their leg, a hit and run victim, two different elderly women who tripped and fell. Alot of things seem to happen around me but most of them happen while I lived in NYC.

 

[Jon]

I stopped at a car accident last month in NYC that I witnessed. Occurred on the FDR highway by the United Nations building. Some car doing 80 mph rear ended 2 cars that had stopped in traffic. The 2 occupants both went through the windsheild and survived!

That's because they are in New York. Do you ever see people die on Third Watch?

 

[firecoins]

That's because they are in New York. Do you ever see people die on Third Watch?

New York is exactly like that!

Yeah we do get lots of things in NYC. I have never come across a medical emergency outside of when i lived in NYC with 1 exception of a seizure at a convention which I didn't mention.

 

[sp121988]

Im not even an EMT and i carry a kit and have used it

one of my friends at school is an emt-b and he and i both carry kits and so 1 day after school this girl was playing catch in front of the schol and she ran full speed into a tilted picket fence and gashed her arm and so me and my friend wound up stopping the bleeding before the FD got there.
(PS im cert in first aid and cpr 4 the pro rescuer)

 

[mfrjason]

When I was off duty,and I did pass an accident,I would stop and offer my assistance just cuz I think it is the right thing to do cuz it shows that you do care about people.