Well, coming around a curve in the highway a guy 3 cars up from me hyrdoplanes hits the wall head on smashing the front of his SUV completely, rolling over once. Right in front of me there is a local sheriff and he's on that like white on rice, pardon the expression. I drive past and see that its a single patient, doesnt look too horrible so I feel like i need to stop and render assistance. I'm nervous though, the devil on my shoulder is saying "HEY STOP THIS WILL BE FUN YOU"LL GET TO PRACTICE!!!" then the angel on the other shoulder is saying "YOU"RE NOT CERTIFIED YET, YOU'LL GET IN TROUBLE". What can i say, the devil won. Luckily i keep gloves in the center console and my highway vest in the trunk. Nerves kick in a little bit but i'll try and give you a run down of how things went.
Things started coming back to me as i approached the car. Quick scene sizeup:
- oil and gas leaking from the car, possible HAZMAT
- Airbag deployment
- battery is still connected (check for undeployed pyro)
- no fire
- car IS in the travel lanes so have the Sheriff park in a blocking position just in case.
- Park my car far enough down "stream" from the accident that the medic can easily access the scene and be set for a clear exit.
Ok, good to go. Glove up. Talk to the sheriff, introduce myself tell him what i think we have here. My impression of MOI, one patient. Approach the car from the front and introduce myself, tell the patient that i'm going to grab C-spine and hold his neck because he might be hurt. Grab a good C-Spine and start going though the verbal parts of the assessment until i can get help doing the initial and rapid. SAMPLE just in case, OPQRST because he says he has back pain. So here i am in the back seat of this guy's car holding his head and talking the cop through feeling for broken bones and a rudimentary Initial and Rapid Assessment to make sure this guy isnt bleeding out or anything. FRD has been called in and there's a county cop on scene now. The guy says his back is starting to hurt him more so i'm getting anxious for the medic unit to show up. I keep talking to the guy and find out he's a federal agent, just out of curiosity since it does appear to be a response vehicle of some sort juding on the siren and light bubble mounted in the car, i ask the guy if he's got any weapons i should know about. Of COURSE he does, why didnt i think about this in my scene size up, i mean i saw the guy's little bubble light, saw his radio. Great here i am in a position where i'm committing abandonment and gross negligence if i leave because i'm worried about the guns. Oh well, i ask if its alright if the sheriff secure's his weapons, of course he agrees and hands them over.
Ok its been about 10 minutes, feels much much longer, my arms are hurting my hands are shaking, i'm wet, i'm cold. But i'm also excited because I know i've done everything right, well almost everything save the guns. I am ready to do a proper patient handover to the career medics. I explain to the patient exactly what is going to happen once the fire fighters get on scene, explain to him how a rapid extrication works, what to expect in terms of a C-collar and the backboard and straps and whatnot. The career guys show up, engine to block and assist, medic to transport. I know one of the guys so i'm not nearly as nervous before. Give a good MESSAGE transfer listing specifics where needed, help collar the guy and move for rapid extrication. EXACTLY HOW WE PRACTICED!!! It was great. I had a huge smile on my face, the guys must have thought i was on nitrous or acid or something.
The engine medic tells me i did a good job, that they really didnt need to ask the patient anything i got them all the info they needed. SCORE ONE FOR THE VOLUNTEER!!! Then the patient looks up at me and says, "how did you know these guys were gonna do all that". Just simply told him "they teach us the same stuff". His only response was a grin and he said "Cool!".
Off to the hospital a short 7 minutes up the road and he was being seen in a room by someone who could give him the treatment he needed, a few bumps and bruises, no apparent LOC, no major DCAP-BTLS issues. I'm sure he's fine, just goes to show you that anything can happen any time, and if you have the ability to render assistance my firm belief is that you should.
Incidents like this remind me how important it is for the average citizen to know CPR, to know how to use an AED, to know how to activate emergency services in their jurisdiction. The faster someone gets aide, especially in a cardiac situation the greater their odds of survival. Please do yourselves a favor and get certified in CPR, learn first aide, and if you have time take a first responder class and learn critical info that may save your life, or the life of a family member.
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5 comments:
Congrats, that's awesome! I would never have thought about the guns, that's for sure! Great job :)
it was a little wierd really. I'm relatively sure the guy wouldn't have attacked anyone on scene with the weapons, but its a scene safety thing that still bugs me that missed.
evidently i've forgotten basic grade school grammar!!!!
I LOVE the e e cummings card! If valentine's day weren't so close, I'd definitely get it. Thanks for showing it to me!
Ah, don't worry about that. Like 75% of the wrecks I go to at my rural gig have guns in the car. It's just a way of life down here. If I see it I ask, "sir, do you want the trooper to secure your gun?" They always say yea, and tell me where their other guns are in the car.
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