Wear a helmet

[C-Rex]

Last week my dad was witness to a freak accident that really hammered home the need to always wear a helmet.

He was driving down Rt.83 near the Vernon Manchester line when a deer shot out into the road and hit a guy and his girlfriend riding a motorcycle a little ways ahead. The guy had no time to brake, swerve, or react in any way. He may not have ever known what hit him. He went down hard. His girlfriend was wearing a helmet, he was not. My dad quickly stopped to help. The girl was scraped up and in shock but was otherwise ok so my dad went to the guy. He was in bad shape. He was gurgling blood with every breath and had blood coming from his ears. My dad said his collar bone and possibly his shoulder were visibly broken. My dad didn't want to move him in fear of worsening neck or back injuries but with the amount of blood the man was spitting up, he was afraid the guy would drown on it. So he made the decision and carefully rolled the man onto his side. He stayed with him until emergency crews arrived and then hung out a while longer as they called for Lifestar. The man was airlifted out and his girlfriend was put in an ambulance. That's the last my dad saw or heard of them. Hopefully his actions played a positive part and helped them to survive their ordeal, but we may never know.

When telling me the story, my dad noted how no one else had tried to help. Even though traffic was stopped in both directions, everyone just stayed in their cars. That disgusted me. The self-centered attitude of people to day is shameful. I also couldn't help but be constantly thinking how a helmet may have changed the situation. It just shows that crashes and falls can come out of nowhere and be of no fault to the rider. Your head is a delicate and complicated thing. Protect it!!

Just wanted to pass this story on and hope that it convinces at least one helmetless rider to wisen up.

 

[ScottySkis]

+1 horrible of people not to help. A great manager friend if mind on vacation rode a bike no helmet and never came back, I miss that guy. People wear helmets.

 

[o3jeff]

Hopefully you're dads efforts saved the guy. Keep us posted if you see/hear anything on this.

With the nicer weather you see more stories of motorcyclist getting hit and most of the times they were innocently just riding down the street.

 

[skirick]

C-Rex, there two types of people at an accident or emergency scene; those who stop and help, and those who won't. For whatever reason most people either can't stomach an accident scene or just don't want to get involved - might be late to where they are going or get dirty. The optimist in me hopes it's not the latter, but having been a firefighter and rescue technician for many years the truth is that many are too selfish to get involved. Lucky for this guy your dad was one that was willing to help.

 

[LasersInTheTaiga]

Yeah, I really hope that guy is okay.

Also its a documented thing that some people just freeze in these situations. I think it has to do with blood flow to a certain region of the brain (can't remember exactly now). They really and truly can't move. Of course I doubt if everyone present at this accident had this problem. I do know that one positive attribute of those of us with ADHD is that our brains do not have this problem and we often immediately spring into action in emergencies like this (which I can attest to personally).

 

[deadheadskier]

I think in these situations it's best to not judge why some people are unwilling to help out. People are wired differently. I'd have no problem coming to the aid of the victim, but then again I am pursuing a career in medicine. Others might not be able to stomach it, others might freeze as Laser points out and yes, some people can unfortunately be selfish and don't want to be bothered with helping out their fellow man.

Truthfully though, sometimes having more help from the wrong type of people at the scene of an accident can do more harm than good. You get situations of too many cooks in the kitchen (this actually happens in the Emergency Room when major trauma arrives and too many medical professionals want to try and help and just end up in the way and it takes a level headed lead physician to tell folks to step back); or you get situations where people think they should help, see the gruesomeness of the situation and create panic.

Kudos to your dad for helping out C-Rex. He's a good man. Not all of those who didn't hop in are self-centered though. I'd say most aren't.

 

[skirick]

I don't judge without cause. In my 30+ years in the emergency services, I have seen a lot. I haven't taken a poll, but while many that don't stop are just not wired for that type of thing, many still just don't want to get involved.
I hear ya on the ADHD laser, I think i'm un-diagnosed!

 

[Hado226]

Until I had first aid training as part of becoming a ski patrolled, I would have stayed in the car. Untrained but willing never was the problem, I was afraid of making a bad move that could make a bad situation worse.

As a kid, my dad I were among the first on the scene of a neighborhood housefire, as the FD arrived they dropped hose and wrench at a hydrant we were standing near, we 'helped' by removing the caps, attaching the hose, but started turning the valve the wrong way jammIng it closed.

Untrained help is not helpful without specific direction .

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

 

[deadheadskier]

Until I had first aid training as part of becoming a ski patrolled, I would have stayed in the car. Untrained but willing never was the problem, I was afraid of making a bad move that could make a bad situation worse.

As a kid, my dad I were among the first on the scene of a neighborhood housefire, as the FD arrived they dropped hose and wrench at a hydrant we were standing near, we 'helped' by removing the caps, attaching the hose, but started turning the valve the wrong way jammIng it closed.

Untrained help is not helpful without specific direction .

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

Pretty much the point I was making. Too many cooks in the kitchen (especially those who don't know how to cook) will often do more bad than good. On a large scale, you see this with natural disasters. So many people want to help, but order and control needs to be maintained for dealing with a traumatic situation efficiently, so volunteers often get turned away.

 

[skirick]

Sorry to beat this to death, but just to clairify, I was talking about when the accident initially happens, not after the emergency services have gotten there. Just being a good samaritan.

 

[C-Rex]

Sorry to beat this to death, but just to clairify, I was talking about when the accident initially happens, not after the emergency services have gotten there. Just being a good samaritan.

This is what I'm saying. Just seeing if the guy is ok or being with him until help arrives is enough. I'm not expecting anyone to start treating injuries but doing nothing while another human being is suffering is dispicable. I also know there are legitimate reasons for staying in the car, like if you have kids with you for instance. But the fact that my dad was the only person to get out of his car out of the couple dozen people stopped in both directions is just sad.

 

[skirick]

Thanks C-Rex, that's exactly what I was talking about.

 

[snoseek]

hit a tree last night at bear brook and without the helmet there's no way id be typing this right now. The helmet visor ripped off and the cracks look like a shattered winshield. Even with it I'm dealing with some pretty bad whiplash and signs of a mild concussion but consider myself VERY VERY lucky that it did its job!!1


Yeah, wear a helmet!!!!

 

[ScottySkis]

hit a tree last night at bear brook and without the helmet there's no way id be typing this right now. The helmet visor ripped off and the cracks look like a shattered winshield. Even with it I'm dealing with some pretty bad whiplash and signs of a mild concussion but consider myself VERY VERY lucky that it did its job!!1


Yeah, wear a helmet!!!!

Sorry man, glad you be okay and buy a new helmet. Very glad you were wearing one.

 

[C-Rex]

Glad you're ok.

Update: My buddy is an RN at Hartford Hospital and works in the area this guy is at. He's alive but has some serious head injuries and some other broken bones. His girlfriend is OK. Really sad since his major problems could have been prevented.

 

[nomad]

Props to your dad for trying to help. Another thing to keep in mind - a friend of mine who used to be an EMT said that bystanders are statistically at very high risk of getting injured at the scene of an accident. He told me one story where 1 death turned into 3 from people stopping to help. I think the biggest problem is that people become distracted by the accident and end up crashing 'cause they're not watching where they're going. Emergency vehicles have all those lights and sirens for a reason...

 

[wa-loaf]

Saw this over on Epic:

 

[Nick]

^Good video.

I think from a decade ago the helmet debate has by and large come to full acceptance of them except for some holdouts. Myself included. It's just the norm now.

 

[Nick]

Edit: I just realized this was in mountain / road biking forum.