I just witnessed a very nasty car crash!

[Dreamer128]

A friend an I were riding home after we went to see The Matrix: Reloaded. It’s kind of a tradition that I take him halfway before leaving for my own house. Just after crossing a very busy street, and nearly getting hit by a car myself, I heard the sound of brakes. Just as I turned around, the sound of the crash reached my ears. And I saw a woman being thrown halfway across the street. Before me, my friend stopped as well. And after a few seconds, we both turned around and rushed for the scene of the accident as fast as possible. By the time we got there, my friend dropped his bike and ran for the victim. A young woman, late teens or early twenty’s I suspect. Unfortunately, she was lying face down, so it was impossible to id her. About half a dozen people had reached the woman before us, and the standard cliché’s started to play out. People gathering on the side line, just blocking things up. Several people were yelling that 'they didn't do it' and it almost appeared as if the driver himself thought defending himself ("she came from behind another car!") more important then the life of the girl he had just hit. A lot of people were using their cell-phones, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if they were calling their family and friends to tell them all about ‘the grand scene’. So I put my bike down at the side of the road and ran to the victim, yelling at my friend to dial 112 (=Dutch 911). I don’t think he heard me, instead asking a bystander to turn the girl around. Pretty stupid move if you ask me (though I didn't have any formal training, I did read somewhere that you should never move the victim), so I yelled at them to keep their hands of her. Fortunately, common sense still runs strong through the veins of some people, and the girl was left alone. Although at first I had thought her dead (the window on the car that hit her was thrashed!), she suddenly started moving a little. Which was a huge relief. I reasoned with my mate that there wasn’t anything else we could do, since we were untrained in First Aid, and would only get in the way of the professionals (don’t you just hate those disaster-tourists?). After which a woman confessed that several of them had First Aid training, but were afraid to disturb the body. They were probably right. I didn’t realise until three streets later that we were witnesses, but then again; there probably wasn’t anything we could have added to the story of the dozens of others who’d seen the accident.

Damn, what an experience. This was my first accident, and I feel really bad about not being able to do more...

[ 06-08-2003, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[Ladyzekke]

Sorry you had to witness that Dreamer But don't feel bad though, I mean there was nothing that you could do for the girl, except to call for emergency help, and others had already done that, and as you pointed out, it is not a good idea to move the body because of possible internal injuries, so no use in standing around staring and clogging the area so the emergency personnel can't get to her as quickly.

I hope she pulls through, sounds like a really nasty accident

[Stormymystic]

AWW geez man, sorry, it is teriffing to watch something as horible as that, and not being able to help but you did the right thing and should be proud for thinking quickly, I am proud to know someone who does know whatnot to doin an accident, that is to meis more important than doing anything [img]smile.gif[/img] if it will help anytime you need to talk about it, pm me k?

[Bahamut]

yep.. you did the right thing dude..

at least she moved... that's a good sign... maybe you could ask around a bit? but then the chances are slim... no matter. what matters is you were able to contribute to the well being of the girl... [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Melusine]

Awww Tom, that must've been awful! I hope the girl is ok...
It's pretty shocking to witness an accident, huh? Don't feel bad about it, you handled things well, I think.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the car next to my mother, and a car crashed into the "vangrail" a couple of meters before us, pieces of metal flying everywhere. It was pretty busy on the road, but by some lucky quirk of fate, no one had to swerve really badly to avoid crashing into the car. Was a close call though, we were *this* close to crashing ourselves...
Anyway, my mother parked closeby and I called 112 while my boyfriend (who was sitting in the back) went to check on the woman in the car. Turns out she had fallen asleep while driving (idiot! [img]graemlins/1pissed.gif[/img] when you get tired, you NEED to pull over - not just for you but because you are endangering others). She looked more or less ok although she might have been in shock, but there was no apparent damage.
Stupid thing is though, there was a guy standing with her whom I assumed knew her, was with her in the car. Dumb I know but I was quite startled of course, and wasn't thinking properly. So anyway, after I'd told the lady that the police was on its way and made sure she was feeling ok, we drove off, with me still thinking the guy would stay with her. But it turned out he was a passer-by as well and drove off too. I felt pretty bad about that since it's stupid to leave someone alone who's just been in a crash. For all I know she might have been in shock.
Anyway, after we got home, my boyfriend and I took the car again and drove back to the scene of the accident. Thankfully there was police all around and she was fine, but I did feel guilty about not thinking properly. Goes to show you never know whether you can really keep your cool when witnessing an accident.

Lengthy story, sorry...

It's infuriating how some people respond though, don't you think? I hate "ramptoerisme" as much as you.. it's despicable. What a load of fun, watching other people lying on the road hurt and not doing anything to help. [img]graemlins/1disgust.gif[/img] English has a funny word for it, 'rubbernecking' (you know, when people try to see what's happened by craning their necks and swaying their heads from left to right)
The people who immediately started defending themselves (I didn't do anything, it was her own fault) are pretty stupid too... why not make sure the girl was alright before worrying about themselves?
Anyway, again I hope she's ok... you said your mate didn't hear you ask to call 112, do you think anyone else did?
You were right about not turning her around BTW - if she had brain damage or a broken neck or spine that would have been dangerous. I thought all kids got a first aid course in primary school though - I did, in any case.

[ 06-09-2003, 06:44 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Dragonshadow]

I know how it feels man. I saw a guys on his motorbike lying on the side of a road, and he looked pretty dead. I felt sad, because I couldn't do anything to help him- the ambulance was already there.

[Cloudbringer]

Wow, that was a tough scene for you , Dreamer! But you handled it pretty well, in my opinion! As far as I know, it's bad to move an accident victim til a doctor or medic can see if any bones are broken, including the spine.

[Stormymystic]

As the Daughter and Grand daughter of ER nurses, I have learned some things about crashes, if you have to move the person for and only for reasons that threaten their lives, you should first support their neck and back, my husband had to help someone once when they had wrecked getting on the interstate, the car was on fire and the passanger was still in the car therewasno sign of the driver, so my husband and other guys got a hold of the guy best they could and supported him the best they could and got him out and away from the car just as it went up in flames, and I was at home still asleep, I found out about it and freaked out when my husband came home to change clothes, they found the driver, it was the guys son and was his 18th birthday, a few hours later when the sun finnaly came up, he was unfortunately already dead my husband took that news really hard because they searched for the kid, but never found him. the place where he was found was a deep ditch full of water and over grown by weeds

[Ryanamur]

Good move Dreamer. Don't worry about being a witness, you can always call the cops and tell them what you saw.

Edit: don't ever move the victim unless she faces a greater danger by staying were she is.

[ 06-09-2003, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Ryanamur ]

[Lovisa]

It must have been really scary to se that, but as everybody else says you did what u could and u did it good. Hope this was the first and last accident for ya man...