Welcome back everyone. Sorry for missing the day without notice yesterday, but I would rather take the day off than schlock out something horrible. I have also noticed that our facebook community tends to be a heck of a lot quieter on the weekend, so I may switch to a five day blog format, and see how that goes. That would allow me to map out my topics a little better, and also leave the weekends free for any book writing exploits.
However, Jenn and I had a fairly horrific night last night, and it has me thinking about a good many things right now.
Jenn did a very nice thing for me last night since I was so stressed out. Jenn took me out for ice cream, which is absolutely wonderful. Doubly wonderful since Jenn can’t eat dairy. For once the dairy queen actually got my order right too, which is amazing. And no, my order isn’t crazy, they just found some way to mess up a cookie dough blizzard, every damn time. So I was horking down my ice-cream, and we got to a red light. I was looking down into my cup for another spoonful (I wasn’t driving) and I hear a loud impact, and look up just in time to see two bodies laying on the ground after a motorcycle had impacted directly into a mustang.
This is actually the fourth horrific accident I have seen here in Tucson. It is really hard to drive through this city every day and feel safe. I don’t trust these people at all. According the Jenn, the mustang was at a complete stop, and she saw the motorcycle coming through the bush. That means the driver either didn’t look and blew through, or saw them coming and didn’t realize he couldn’t make it. All in all, its completely the mustang’s fault. Which is not what his lieing butt was trying to tell the cops, but fortunately two witnesses that saw the whole thing stuck around to give the cops their story.
It’s amazing the order in which your brain takes in details in a crisis. I saw the two bodies on the ground first. My eyes drifted to the left and saw the mangled car. Then I saw that it was a motorcycle and knew it was going to be bad. Lastly, I could see a huge swath of blood on the mustang’s hood. All through it, I could hear a woman screaming.
The moment is burned into my mind forever. Even a night removed, I can still see every detail. Even worse from my perspective as a wanna be prepper, was that in the moment of crisis, I didn’t know what to do.
Jenn heard the screaming, and immediately ran to comfort the woman. Another gentlemen grabbed a flashlight from his car, and ran out to direct traffic so no one else got hurt. A swarm of other people ran out to keep either person from moving, and I saw one guy holding the driver’s head steady so he didn’t move around a lot and hurt himself further.
All I knew how to do was sit in my car and call 911. Which I did.
In this case, it worked out OK. There were a bunch of people who were able to contribute, and together they crowd sourced a plan. We were in a dense suburban environment, which means EMS was on site in no time. In fact, the border patrol rolled past to help direct traffic within 60 seconds. The victims were in good hands almost immediately.
Still though. What if this had been in a rural setting? What if I was on a mountain road and saw something like this happen? Would I be able to provide any kind of help or care to someone that was hurt, or would I freeze up?
My prepping mentor has a saying, in a crisis, you revert to your lowest level of training. Unfortunately, I have no training, in anything. I have been a pampered suburban slug my entire life, and given what I want to do in my life, it actually shames me. My lowest level of training is to wait for a grown up to show up and solve my problem. That’s downright humiliating.
So I would suggest, for those of you out there that haven’t, go get at least some basic first aid training. No one expects you to be a complete paramedic, but in a crisis, getting care immediately can make a huge difference. In a crisis situation, you will not be thinking rationally. Just reading about how to do something doesn’t meant that you will be able to execute it. There is a difference between arm chair knowledge, and actual good instruction from a professional.
Unfortunately, I did not have that. So in my shame, I got to stand by helplessly while a fellow human being was hurt badly, and I could do nothing for them. Learn from my shame. Take the time, and get the training. You never know when you will need it. We don’t get to pick our disasters, and you might be the only thing standing between your fellow human being and death. Be ready to answer the call, because every citizen should be a sentinel.
The Tribal Future 
Feb 03, 2013 @ 17:51:42
You did the right thing. The most important thing to do is call 911 no matter how many other people are around, in an emergency it is easy to assume someone else has done so.
Feb 03, 2013 @ 18:04:53
This is true, but it didn’t FEEL like I contributed.
Feb 03, 2013 @ 18:23:52
I did have training, and certified as a First Responder. Unfortunately when it was time for recert, I was still grieving the loss of my mother so didn’t take the test. Still have the knowledge, so that’s a good thing! Basic first aid and CPR are great things to have, especially if you live in a rural area. You called, you observed, and you contributed. From your observations it seems like there were others who were prepared and knew what to do….like the C-spine. I’m sure whoever did that held it until the person had a brace on and put on a board. Sometimes talking to a distressed person helps too, calm them down a bit. Thank goodness the other witness stuck around!
Feb 04, 2013 @ 16:20:39
I understand your feeling of helplessness. I was certified in First Aid & CPR when I attended high school & I have witnessed/been in several “car” accidents (hence my fear of being in vehicles) so I should be a “pro” at knowing what to do, right?
*Buzzer* Wrong…
About 6 1/2 years ago was my last accident, my husband, his father, and our two girls were hanging upside down in the car. All I could do is run around the car once, screaming, hoping someone inside could hear me, then I dropped to the ground. My husband managed his way out and proceeded to get our girls out of their car seats bringing them to where I was Sitting, then helped his father get out.
Thankfully no one was hurt.
Maybe I had an “excuse” for not attempting to get everyone out, after all I was ejected out of the rear window & I was pregnant, but my family was in that car! & All I Could Do Was Run Around It Screaming?..
My Point? Certified or Not & you may have froze up, but you Did the Most Important Thing by Calling 911 & I Applaud You for that! If it were not for You, the response team would not have been there as quick as they were.
Thank you for sharing this with us & I do agree with you, everyone should get training, I would even go further and say it should be Mandatory to Teach These Skills in All Schools.
Feb 04, 2013 @ 22:51:08
Thanks Lettie and Merry for sharing. I did the best I could under the circumstance, which is about all you can hope for in an amateur scenario I guess. At least it gave me the motivation to get out there and get some training, which I didn’t really have before hand. So at least some good will come out of this.