Health Tutor

I met up with a friend at the local coffee shop this morning as we often do. We were standing in the parking lot near our vehicles because she smokes & enjoys a cigarette with her coffee. When a teenager tried to cross the street in the nearby busy intersection he was crossing against the lights. A car trying to get through the intersection before the light changed hit him, throwing him into the air he first landed on the windshield before flying into the air and landing on the pavement. The impact of the accident knocked both his shoes & hat off. Even though I was running it felt like I could not travel fast enough to travel the short distance reach him fast enough. As my friend & I arrived on the scene so did many others who had been traveling in the same intersection. One man jumped in and supported his head & neck keeping him from moving too much I took of my jacket & covered the boy and instructed others to do the same. I directed people who were helping to move their vehicles to the nearby parking lot to allow emergency vehicles access to the intersection. Manny of the people were already calling 911 as we approached the scene. I did an assessment of the injuries and gave information to a woman who was standing nearby on the phone. He was conscious and shaking as though he was in convulsions or going into shock. He was bleeding from the left side of his head and had a compound (open) fracture on his right leg. There may have been other injuries but this was enough for the emergency personal right now. People quickly started coming forward from other nearby car with blankets. We wrapped him up & kept him warm. At this time it seems to take forever for the ambulance to show up. There is not much else we can or need to do with the ambulance only minutes away. The reality is that it was only a few minutes before the ambulance got there. I could hear them long before I could see them I looked to see which way they were coming from & waved my arms in the air as they approached so they knew I was the one to direct them & then pointed to where the boy was lying on the ground As the ambulance enters the scene one may started circling around & saying “O.k. everyone move back give him room“ I quickly asked him to move to the side & told the man holding the boy`s head to stay where he was as I continued to support the secondary injury the broken leg. I also announced that the police would soon want to speak with anyone who witnessed the accident so not to go too far.

 So if  you are first on the scene what do you do:

          • First make sure things are safe. You do not help anyone if you are the second victim

          • Next control the scene. There many things happening and you DO NOT have to do it all. Just make sure it all gets done.

           • Someone has to Call 911 (or your emergency numbers) not necessarily you

           • Do a quick assessment of the victim. The ambulance just wants to know the main things wrong with him: conscious, breathing, major bleeding

           • Assure people you know what you are doing “I have first aid” is all you need to say

           • Talk to the victim get to know who he is; age, name, & other information he wants to share and gain his confidence give you name tell him you are going to help him, let him know he is safe with you there.

          • Touch is very important, hold his hand, touch his face, just support his body in the position it is in

          • Not everyone out there knows what to do or is trying to help have confidence in what you are doing & do not stop offering comfort until the paramedics/ambulance personal ask you to step pack.

           • Once they have asked you to step back. Just step back don’t go away. They may have questions or need your help to move the casualty or help in another way.