Keep yourselves safe and alert
Dec. 24th, 2016 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drwexThings have happened and I shall post about them when much of my extra brain space is not absorbed by minute copyediting of the upcoming Arisia Souvenir Book (PSA: a.nnotate sucks). But I want to talk about this one.
Yesterday we drove from MA to PA for our usual holidays-with-my-parents thing. It's just us as my sister-in-law is recovering from (elective) foot surgery and can't do car rides just yet. Brother and I aren't close but I still miss seeing him this time of year.
ANYWAY, we took a different route down than usual, as Google directed us around Mass Pike suckage. We were on 495 heading south when a constellation of brake lights emerged ahead of us. We started left to go around the now-stopped vehicles only to realize that we were fresh upon an accident scene. We didn't witness it, nor were we first there, but we seemed to be the two with the most sense. One witness was fluttering about doing nothing and another person had stopped their car IN THE HIGHWAY to call 911. Pygment and I pulled off the road well ahead and ran back.
Two people in a relatively late-model minivan had impacted the back of a semi at highway speeds. Father was driving, daughter in the front passenger seat. The truck was not scratched, as you'd imagine, but the front end of the minivan was a complete shambles, glass broken. All the airbags had deployed - Pygment later noted that the powder dust from the bags was still in the air as we ran up.
She took the driver side, where a panicked gentleman with quite likely a broken arm was trying to get out of the vehicle. And bystanders were trying to "help" him with this. Geezus keerist. Pygment talked them out of that, but the gentleman was feeling trapped (he was) and wanted the belt off, so that was cut and he stayed put.
Meanwhile, I talked to the passenger, a young woman who was not majorly injured but whose legs were pinned by the crushed front of the car and who was clearly in shock and fading in and out of consciousness. No obvious blood, I checked pupils (normal, equal-sized, and tracked correctly in all three dimensions) and grip (shaky but not trembling). The poor woman wanted nothing more than to be out of the wreck with which I sympathized but no way was she getting out until the pros came and pried the metal off her.
So I stood next to what was left of her door, and we gripped each other's forearms, and we talked. Each time she started to slip into unconsciousness I asked more questions, urged her to stay with me. I learned where she'd gone to school, where she worked, where they were headed, what she was going to buy, what games she liked to play, which of the Final Fantasy series was her favorite, and probably more I'm forgetting. Afterward I felt like it had been five minutes, but Pygment assures me it was nearly 20 minutes before the pros arrived - first a cop, then a fire rescue crew with jaws. As I got clearance from the policeman to leave and we were walking back to our car I heard the ambulance pull up.
I wish there was more I could have done, but her injuries were not life-threatening and not in places any amateur should be going. Realistically, I probably did the most good by having Bystander 2 move his car onto the shoulder so the policeman had a clear space to pull up and stop.
If these two are OK - and I have every reason to think they will be - it will be due to modern safety features compensating for the driver's lack of attention. Both the injured were properly belted; the airbags appear to have done their job. And the car front crumpled in just the right way. Nobody wants to have their legs pinned by crushed metal, but it beats all hell out of having a quarter-ton of aluminum and iron thrown into your chest at high speed.
Thank G-d for those things, and may you all be safe and well in your travels.
Yesterday we drove from MA to PA for our usual holidays-with-my-parents thing. It's just us as my sister-in-law is recovering from (elective) foot surgery and can't do car rides just yet. Brother and I aren't close but I still miss seeing him this time of year.
ANYWAY, we took a different route down than usual, as Google directed us around Mass Pike suckage. We were on 495 heading south when a constellation of brake lights emerged ahead of us. We started left to go around the now-stopped vehicles only to realize that we were fresh upon an accident scene. We didn't witness it, nor were we first there, but we seemed to be the two with the most sense. One witness was fluttering about doing nothing and another person had stopped their car IN THE HIGHWAY to call 911. Pygment and I pulled off the road well ahead and ran back.
Two people in a relatively late-model minivan had impacted the back of a semi at highway speeds. Father was driving, daughter in the front passenger seat. The truck was not scratched, as you'd imagine, but the front end of the minivan was a complete shambles, glass broken. All the airbags had deployed - Pygment later noted that the powder dust from the bags was still in the air as we ran up.
She took the driver side, where a panicked gentleman with quite likely a broken arm was trying to get out of the vehicle. And bystanders were trying to "help" him with this. Geezus keerist. Pygment talked them out of that, but the gentleman was feeling trapped (he was) and wanted the belt off, so that was cut and he stayed put.
Meanwhile, I talked to the passenger, a young woman who was not majorly injured but whose legs were pinned by the crushed front of the car and who was clearly in shock and fading in and out of consciousness. No obvious blood, I checked pupils (normal, equal-sized, and tracked correctly in all three dimensions) and grip (shaky but not trembling). The poor woman wanted nothing more than to be out of the wreck with which I sympathized but no way was she getting out until the pros came and pried the metal off her.
So I stood next to what was left of her door, and we gripped each other's forearms, and we talked. Each time she started to slip into unconsciousness I asked more questions, urged her to stay with me. I learned where she'd gone to school, where she worked, where they were headed, what she was going to buy, what games she liked to play, which of the Final Fantasy series was her favorite, and probably more I'm forgetting. Afterward I felt like it had been five minutes, but Pygment assures me it was nearly 20 minutes before the pros arrived - first a cop, then a fire rescue crew with jaws. As I got clearance from the policeman to leave and we were walking back to our car I heard the ambulance pull up.
I wish there was more I could have done, but her injuries were not life-threatening and not in places any amateur should be going. Realistically, I probably did the most good by having Bystander 2 move his car onto the shoulder so the policeman had a clear space to pull up and stop.
If these two are OK - and I have every reason to think they will be - it will be due to modern safety features compensating for the driver's lack of attention. Both the injured were properly belted; the airbags appear to have done their job. And the car front crumpled in just the right way. Nobody wants to have their legs pinned by crushed metal, but it beats all hell out of having a quarter-ton of aluminum and iron thrown into your chest at high speed.
Thank G-d for those things, and may you all be safe and well in your travels.
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no subject
Date: 2016-12-24 11:04 pm (UTC)I remember being trapped by myself in a wrecked car, pinned by the wreckage and feeling the effects of compound fractures and severe shock, while I hoped that someone had called an ambulance and that the paramedics would get there before I bled out. I would have felt much better if there'd been someone like you on the scene; thanks for tending to that poor girl.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-24 11:16 pm (UTC)I wish I could give you both a giant hug.
Happy Chanukah! Hugs and kisses
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-25 02:27 am (UTC)Much applause to both of you.
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How are you (both) feeling now? (If you've already gone through post incident debriefing, then yay.)
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:19 pm (UTC)The man had a broken arm and potential leg injuries so we kept making sure that he stayed put. A number of people came over and wanted to remove him from the car. The quick question of, "Are you a first responder?" when met with no, was sufficient to get them to back off and leave him be.
I also assessed the vehicle for safety and there was no leaking fuel. Only danger was glass fragments and dust from the airbags so I covered the open wounds I saw with sterile gauze by just laying them on top of the open wound, easy to remove by EMS but kept crap from falling into it.
A man who had been trained for wilderness first aid came by and I left him with the man to make sire he stayed in the car and that no one tried to get him out will EMS got there. When they did EMS ignored me and talked to the man by the door though I went up to talk to them as they came in. Grrrrr.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:43 pm (UTC)If it helps, I can somewhat understand (I mean, I wasn't there, so I'm just wildly speculating) that the first priority for EMS was patient contact, then getting bystander info. My vague theoretical model is: get to the patient and start assessing if I'm in Work Fast mode or in Work Faster mode. If I'm in the latter, I want the scene cleared so I can do rapid extrication, because my priority is transport. If the former, okay, I can start working up the patient while I tell the bystanders, "someone tell me what you saw". So you were in the wrong spot: if you're approaching me, my focus would be "show me where the patients are" and not "tell me what you know".
Independently, someone with wilderness first aid is probably exactly what's needed for bystanders: you don't have a jumpkit and a fully stocked ambulance, so now what? As a bystander, I just want the patient to not get worse until I can do a handoff to EMS who has all their gear. (E.g., my first priority would be a cervical collar. Not exactly something I'd be carrying around.)
None of this is meant to detract from my opening point: I am very impressed with how well y'all did, and am not even a little certain that I could do as well. I realize this sounds weird, but y'all should be proud of what you did.
If, heavens forbid, that Alyse and I find ourselves in such a situation, I would hope we do as well as you. We have not had the opportunity which is fine by me, Cosmos, no need to get up, we're good so I honestly have no idea.
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Have you gone through "so, how are you feeling?" debrief with someone? (I imagine you know all about that, and much better than I do, but perhaps you'll excuse my nerdy pedantry -- Yankees can be a bit stiff upper lip at the wrong times, and I would argue that this would be one of them. I'm not saying I'm the right person to talk to, although I would be happy to do so, either here or in person.)
no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-25 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-25 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-25 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-26 10:30 pm (UTC)*hugs* and gratitude
Date: 2016-12-26 07:14 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for being the kind of caring and skilled folks to offer useful and kind help.
RE: *hugs* and gratitude
Date: 2016-12-26 10:34 pm (UTC)Re: *hugs* and gratitude
Date: 2016-12-28 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-27 02:50 pm (UTC)