Vent - bloody selfish sods leaving an injured man in the road!

Sneezy

balmk wrote: »

Unfortunately in this day and age people are too scared to interact with others, whether for fear of crime, or of litigation. I know from experience that when I was a child, young people would help old ladies across the road (cliche, but true). Can you imagine the reaction today if a youth went over to an older person and held their hand out to help?

The milk of human kindness has been somewhat soured by scare-mongering stories in the press of people pretending to have collapsed and them mugging people, or of those who have trued to help someone in distress only to find it comes and bites them on the backside further down the line.

See i don't know about this - i'm 24 so quite young and on numerous occasions i have stopped older people from falling over (on a packed bus i was standing an old lady was getting off that bus lurched forward i automatically reached out to stop her from falling - she seemed grateful anyway). The same when a lady looked dazed and confused she asked for directions - as i was going that way i walked with her and made sure she got on the correct bus. Both were grateful and there wasn't any adverse reaction.

I've thankfully never come across someone who has been hurt however my cousin was knocked down in a hit and run accident (at night) and if it hadn't been for the nurse who had just come off duty and performed cpr she would have probably died - well done op we need more ppl like you.

hollydays

Unintentional wrote: »

I think this is where a lot of people get confused about first aid. They think they have to be a medical expert to save someones life where in fact the role of the first aider is to try and make the person as comfortable as possible until the emergency services arrive. Whether or not you think you did the right thing. You tried your best and did everything with the best intentions and were a lot more helpful then someone who would just walk by. So well done!

Some older lady stopped and started giving me grief,you should not be putting her into the recovery position,if she has hit her head,(i am going to get sued kicks in,but as a caring person i think,i dont care if i DO get sued,i am doing my best),this person could be me,my daughter etc,and needs help!).i told her to go into a shop and summon the security staff-a shopping centre in the south, but i did start thinking-

Mrs_Ryan

:TWell done you. You should be very proud of yourself.:T

I will always stop. I'm an HCA and not qualified but I've had plenty of first aid training and know what I'm doing in most situations - I once helped a bloke who'd been glassed in a pub while the bouncers just stood and gawped - I tended to the bloke's injuries while my (non medically trained mate) calmed his hysterical girlfriend down.. it's amazing how it all just kicks in when something happens.

It is very sad though that the litigation culture has taken over now and most people will avoid rather than try and help.

coldstar

Interesting discussion!

It might be of interest to you all to see this document

Although it focuses on the legal situation surrounding attempting to help someone who has had a cardiac arrest it is very comprehensive. Worth reading it if your interested in the implications of giving first aid to someone!

juno

I was driving recently and saw an old man in the middle of the road. So I pulled over into a side road (well, I was intending to go that way anyway) and stopped. My car was in an awkwardish position, but it was possible to go round it and anyone who passed could see I was doing first aid on the old man. But more people moaned about my car than offered to help.

Gavin83

bluebeary wrote: »

thats shocking that people drove round him, are there any cameras on the road to maybe see who they were, their car registrations ?

And do what exactly? Im fairly sure it's not illegal if you carry on driving.

I've never actually seen anyone in trouble who needs help but like most people I'd like to think I would if put in that situation. Im first aid trained so I'd likely be able to provide some assistance.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I have helped people before - from people falling over getting off the bus, having a seizure, falling off motorbikes, fainting, even one who tripped over and split his head open (I knew where he lived and the bus driver waited for me to get off and point him towards his house and get back on again) to various children attempting to self destruct.


However, I have great difficulty dealing with anyone who is drunk. Especially when they are whining that they've broken their back/can't breathe (could manage to spark up a fag though, when he thought I hadn't heard him falling over outside the front door) or moaning about the fracture in their ankle that was repaired 30 years ago and is absolutely fine on xray, as though he broke it a fortnight ago. With that person, I didn't even open the door - I left him laying outside. If I meet someone who is obviously like that (and diabetics do not look like drunks, whatever people say), I am going to glance and check I can see their chest rising, then step over them and walk away.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I have helped people before - from people falling over getting off the bus, having a seizure, falling off motorbikes, fainting, even one who tripped over and split his head open (I knew where he lived and the bus driver waited for me to get off and point him towards his house and get back on again) to various children attempting to self destruct.


However, I have great difficulty dealing with anyone who is drunk. Especially when they are whining that they've broken their back/can't breathe (could manage to spark up a fag though, when he thought I hadn't heard him falling over outside the front door) or moaning about the fracture in their ankle that was repaired 30 years ago and is absolutely fine on xray, as though he broke it a fortnight ago. With that person, I didn't even open the door - I left him laying outside. If I meet someone who is obviously like that (and diabetics do not look like drunks, whatever people say), I am going to glance and check I can see their chest rising, then step over them and walk away.

I'd stop normally but like you am very wary of drunks.
I had a very bad experience one new years morning helping a drunk.
We were walking home and saw a man lying on the ground in the middle of a very quiet road.It was very icy and his face was stuck to the ground with the frost,his shin bone was sticking out his leg and he was moaning loudly.
He was amiable at first but then when he saw the blue light of the ambulance he got abusive as he thought it was the police.Despite his condition he grabbed my ankle flung me to the ground and I ended up badly injured too.

qetu1357

faerie_girl wrote: »

Theres something called bystander syndrome where everything think someone else will help so they carry on walking. I am sure I heard of something in New York years ago where someone was bleeding to death in a busy street, blood pooring over the pavement, and everyone walked past him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

qetu1357

We were in Boston USA once on holiday.

Like dumb tourists we were reading a map cos we were lost.

Some chap asked where we looking for and then he walked us all the way there.........

Can you imagine that in London!?