Sounds like he was lucky to have you there to act fast. Wonder how many just pulled their phone out and started recording.

 

No one in this crowd thankfully. Everyone was helpful. Those not providing immediate aid stayed back.

 

Head injuries/cuts usually produce a lot of blood. Good job at taking care of him.
One thing about recent jams, a lot of foiks in these jams are in their 60s even 70s. These things can happen more often.

 

Exactly. I think he was probably around 60.

 

You did good, you took charge of the situation and asked for help. Some would just freeze.

One thing, first concern needs to always be YOUR safety. As in this case, when there is blood, protect yourself. No latex gloves around ? Find a plastic bag to act as a barrier between your skin and the victim's blood. You never know if he/she has a blood transmissible disease that could get in your system, via small cut or abrasion on your skin.

 

Always my first thought. I asked the host after to find where they keep the first aid kit and if there isn't one to get one installed. They do have a defibrillator though.

 

Kudos for keeping your cool and for helping the guy.

On a related note, how many here are trained first aiders or more highly trained?

I've been a first aider and CPR certified for decades, although my training needs to be renewed.

I've had to step in a few times, no CPR so far (thankfully), but I and a travelling companion once had to carry an old gent into a restaurant after he had fallen. He had minor cuts and scrapes, but was very grateful to us.

When we went to pay for our lunch, the manager had already comped it.

That was down in Ohio at a Cracker Barrel.

The only two among twenty or more patrons who reacted quickly were the two Canucks....

 

On a related note, how many here are trained first aiders or more highly trained?

Snowboard patrol for 14 years. Stopped when the mountain closed for COVID. Didn't go back.

Got a friend our of the water after he broke his collarbone in a bad windsurfing fall, 300-400 meters out in 2 meter waves. I was on automatic pilot. First asked someone to call for an ambulance, brought him in, stabilized his head, covered him up and asked for people around to make some kind of barrier against the wind, so he wouldn't get hypothermia, etc, etc.

Helped a few people here and there outside of the ski resort, nothing serious, but I'm pretty confident that if something bad happened, I'd jump in without skipping a beat.

 

Nicely done sir, and here's hoping he makes a speedy recovery!

 

Good job jumping into action!

 

Was on the mine rescue team where I worked for a few years, completed my Level 3 and was on my way to completing the EMR training, but have let it slide in the 16+ years I've been out of the rescue team. Still remember the training even if the credentials have expired. Great job on the assistance, that person was in a great spot to have a seizure and fall if there ever was a 'great' spot to fall and crack your noggin. Could have been much worse if it were on the street with nobody around.

 

A big tip of the hat, Never been in such a situation myself, so I have no idea what I'd do.

Thirty-some years back, I was attending an aging conference in Atlanta. Many conferences occupy an entire convention centre and more, with individual talks simultaneously occurring in many different rooms. In this case, it was specialized enough that all attending were in the banquet hall of the hotel. The speaker was about 5 minutes into his talk, when he grabbed the podium to steady himself, collapsed, and fell to the ground. People sprang into action and called 911. After a couple minutes, the fellow regained consciousness, sat up, and proclaimed himself to "be okay". Someone went and cancelled the ambulance request. The guy gets up, and resumes his talk. Another 5 or 10 minutes in, this time he just falls like a tree, with no attempt to break his fall. He is out cold on the ground (carpeted floor, thankfully, so no cuts and no blood). Once again, someone calls 911. But somehow, the time sequence of the previous call to cancel the ambulance, and this call, gets confused. Takes the 911 folks some time to figure things out, and we all end up waiting 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. Flat on his back, he gives us a thumbs up from the stretcher as they cart him out. As far as I know, things turned out okay for the guy, as recently as 2009, he was teaching at a posh SoCal university. Probably retired now.

These kinds of events are scary.

 

I think there's two types of people - those who step in and help in a situation like that and those who don't

That's OK. I've seen situations in which TOO MANY people want to be helpful and that needs sorting out before useful stuff can happen. And sometimes there aren't any or only one so then you wish for another hand. It's OK that not everyone steps up.

It's important for the helper to stay calm confident but defer to more experienced or capable people as they show up. That can be tricky but it sounds like you managed that balance pretty well.

I like helping in emergencies. I find it relaxing and it hits a reset button. Long ago I worked on ambulance crews for several years and it remains my favourite job I've ever had. I've let my certification lapse to the extent that I found out recently that the CPR method I know how to do is several versions out of date so I should really take a refresher course. But even non-medical emergencies are satisfying to help with. Yesterday I came across a tractor-trailer hauling logs that got off the road in the snow in a tight corner. I talked to the trucker for a while, got a neighbor's tractor while he made a plan, and before you know it we had him pulled out and rolling again. Handshakes and appreciation all around everybody goes away feeling better about the world themselves and each other it's a wonderful thing.

j

 

I think there's two types of people - those who step in and help in a situation like that and those who don't

That's OK.

I agree. Some people kind of panic at the sight of blood or are afraid of somehow making things worse.

I’ve always had the thought of it that if were someone close to me in an accident, I’d hope somebody would stop and help them.

Over the years I’ve taken numerous first aid courses and for whatever reason I just can’t get things right when doing the exercises.

I think that’s because I know it’s not real so I’m not taking it seriously (even though im

I’ve probably had to do serious first aid (and by that I mean first upon a bad car wreck or heart attack) maybe five times.

Each time I’ve just gone on auto-pilot and did what needed to be done without thinking about it.

About 25 years ago myself and three others were tending to someone who collapsed and was having a heart attack. We used a defib on him (which stunned both the FD and EMS staff when they arrived because they had not yet come across one being used by the general public at that time).

We were subsequently told we were the first general public first-aiders to use one in Toronto.

 

I applaud your quick thinking. It's very possible that you saved his life. I would like to think that I would do the same thing in your position because there's nothing more important than life.

Whether you think so or not, you're a hero.

 

Awww, thanks but I don’t feel that way. Just an ordinary dude.

 

You're a good man Mark. Very scary but you did everything right.

 

if you've defib'd somebody you know a thing or two about getting stuff right

i know several people who say they choose NOT to take first aid training because then if something bad happened they would feel responsible to do something and without training they feel free to be shocked and uninvolved

i don't get that. on the other hand i feel like if something bad happens it's a failure to pass by but that's not always true either sometimes a situation doesn't need me in it

not unlike playing in a band in that way. sometimes it's right to step up and play sometimes it's best to step back and allow space. takes a long time and lots of mistakes to know but worth it

j

 

i know several people who say they choose NOT to take first aid training because then if something bad happened they would feel responsible to do something and without training they feel free to be shocked and uninvolved

Until it happens to someone close to them.