I saw a guy get hit by a car once. Someone shouted that they were a nurse and went to his side, so I peeled off and called 911. I think that's the only 911 call I've made. I know now that I should have told the onlookers that I was going to call, but mostly I was motivated to not be one of the people staring slackjawed at him. It was kinda horrible, but I'm sure he was okay in the end.
I do have CPR training, but it's rusty. That would be the test--would I give a complete stranger mouth to mouth without any tools? I'd do chest compressions and clearing the airway as much as I could remember, but the bit with the spit--I'd need to be in the moment to know how that would come out.
Jessica mentioned Flip videothingummie in Buffistechnology. And I think Rob answered her question. So that's two.
The locals seem to do better here. We had a guy outside the library that was not well. And did not speak English. Someone who had a smattering of his language got the word diabetes and had had little food. Someone gave her kids McDonald's dinner to him. His family was called, because he wouldn't let us call the ambulance. Now, we did find out why he was so ill. The bag with the empty bottle was the clue. But whatever, people helped.
Do any of you have or have any of you used a Flip Video?
I think Jessica might have one? And she knows this shit. I've played around, and found them endearingly easy and fun, but I've never done any real comparisons.
and that guard - an asshat
The comparison videos on the blog are really great.
When I took CPR training (I really need to get recertified -- it was about ten years ago), they were selling these mask things so that you could give CPR without actual lip-to-lip contact. One of the kinds folded up pretty tiny, so that you could keep it in a purse or briefcase just in case.
I guess the DV thing means I might act. It was just so freaky. Some guy busted the window of a minivan with a club and someone I knew as a neighbor by sight was freaking out. She'd called 911, I gave her my name and number because I was a witness. No one ever talked to me. Months later, after I'd forgotten about it, I got the subpoena. I felt bad I couldn't remember the faces involved, but jeez, no one told me I'd be called.
I've been "talked to" by the cops on several occasions. Never once in those cases have I been asked my name. Which seems kinda wrong, but they do know my address, I guess.
Anyone heard from Big Duluth? he's in SW VA, and there were tornados.
I'm the one who always stops at wrecks on the highway (and need to get recertified pronto) and have always had good experiences...except one...
In Clarendon (outside Hardtimes Cafe, for localistas), a car ran through an intersection and hit a light pole at about 40mph. I ran through traffic and yanked the door open to find a semi-conscious guy with steering wheel marks in his forehead. I got his name and tried to keep him conscious. It took 4 or 5 shouts to get anyone to call 911.
Once the cops showed up, they grilled me for details and when they discovered that the fellow had a bottle of cologne between his legs (which I assumed had caused him to lose control of the car), they decided that he was trying to kill himself and stopped trying to help him. Seriously. I'm screaming that they couldn't make assumptions like that and they are shuffling me out of the scene, telling me to go home and forget it.
I won't ever forget that feeling of helplessness and the certainty that the guy was dying. I called all the hospitals later that night but couldn't get any information.
That poor fellow was written off because he was young and Hispanic. Seriously, I heard one of the cops something about 'he had a lover's quarrel' as he walked away from a badly injured man.
God. I guess I'm still pretty bitter.
