I was coming on I95 in Richmond, VA. I came upon an accident right in front of the Philip Morris plant. Many of you may know it.
It was a strange scene. A car had run ito the back of a truck pulling a boat trailer, but the car was still in gear and the wheels were spinning like mad. The tires were coming apart and the actual wheels were on the pavement and glowing cherry red. The front of the car was on fire and there was a tremendous amount of smoke. The only thing keeping the car from taking off across the interstate was the fact that it was wedged under the boat trailer.
I asked if there was anyone in the car and the bystanders said, “We think so.” I ran to the car and poked my head into the drivers side. Staring up at me was a man in about his 50s. I told him GET OUT! I could tell from his blank stare that he was not going to do it on his own. I tried to pull him out, but his legs were stuck. Ireached down and his leg was badly pinned under the dash. I pulled that sucker until it came out. Then I lifted the man out of the car and carried him to safety.\
The car burned to the ground in minutes.
The odd part of the story, which I never got the answer to, is that the man had on no pants. I don’t know if he lost them trying to get out ot what. Very strange. I never talked to the guy again.
Turns out he was a paraplegic and his hand accelerator got stuck in the wide open position. I made the paper!
I’ve been a cop and an EMT. Had plenty of scenarios in both careers.
But the last time was about 12 years ago. SWMBO, the kids and I were in the mall and a guy in front of us dropped like a rock. I started CPR while SWMBO called 911. I’m assuming it was a heart attack, and I don’t know if he made it or not. All I know is that I kept him going until EMS showed up and they had a faint heartbeat on him when they loaded him into the ambulance.
Lifeguard. Ironically, it was literally my last week working there, and the last week I would work as a lifeguard, ever.
Moreso, it wasn’t even in my section of the pool. Those of us employed by the university pool were at bit :dubious: of those employed by the day camp that rented the pool (and the day camp in general – their decisions regarding how many lifeguards to hire vs. how many kids they had, and allowing non-swimmers in the pool at all, among other things, were highly questionable, but the pool administration wouldn’t stand up to them). Our skepticism was for good reason, as it turned out. I was watching over the toddlers (who were in over their heads even in the shallow end of the pool, where they were – they were allowed in anyway, but required to keep both hands on the gutter [I’m sure you can figure out how often they remembered to comply] and on a good day there was maybe a single camp counselor in there with them – all thirty of them), when I happened to glance up and notice that a 9 year old was going under in the deep end. I waited an agonizing two seconds for the lifeguard down there to do something about it. She didn’t, so I had to blow the “emergency” signal on my whistle and scream at the other (university) lifeguard on the other side of the shallow end to watch my kids so I could jump in and save the one that was sinking.
She was fine, more scared than anything, but it just typified everything that was wrong with how the day camp ran things – way too many kids for the number of lifeguards, way too many who weren’t competent enough to be in the water in the first place, plus I was just royally peeved that the day camp’s lifeguards didn’t have any idea what they were doing. She was closer to the kid by 20+ yards – I have no idea how she didn’t notice what was going on right in front of her. It must have been going on for several seconds even before I saw it. Grrrrr.
A long time ago, I used to be on an e-mail list for LGBT kids ages 13-17 (which I was at the time). One night, one of my fellow listees - a very depressive dude in East B.F.N., New York in a bad family situation - and I were chatting, and he told me he was planning to kill himself. I kept him talking, grabbed my dad’s cell phone (we were on dial-up) and called a suicide hotline, and relayed what he said to the volunteer. We managed to talk him down. That’s as close as I’ve gotten.
My mom, although a doctor, is a family physician and rarely has occasion to do the heroic life-saving business you often hear about, although it does happen. What was a little unusual was when a mother came barrelling into her small family practice clinic in south-side Winnipeg, holding her choking, unconscious son (she had been driving along when he suddenly choked on a peanut or something). Mom performed first aid and told her attendant to call an ambulance, and they got the kid out of immediate peril and off to the hospital.
I saved my own life once and had it saved once also…
I had just finished a ten hour flight in zoo class, spent most of the time with my legs tucked under my chin with teh lack of space. That night I had really bad colic and was trying to move the gas around with my fingers when I thought I felt a lump…
Off to the doctor who on not being able to fell anything suggested with my age and likely drinking habits it was prolly my liver slightly enlarged!!!
Well not being a heavy drinker I insisted on a scan.
Two days later am getting a scan but by now feeling a bit embarrased thinking maybe she was right.
The Ultra sound doc finished scanning my right kidney then said “okay I will show you something”
He then proceeded to scan my left kidney, pointing out the pole, and other such things and finally said… “And that one is a healthy kidney”
He then promptly began to rescan the vague cauliflower thing that was my right kidney saying “don’t know what that is but you don’t want it in you”
Wow! 1 Renal Cell Carcinoma!
Kidney removed pronto!
Some years later, I was visiting a friend in hospital in Auckland feeling pretty rough with hangover and heartburn. A nurse walked past the bed looked at me and said. “Hey you dont look well, come with me”
She took me , in a wheelchair to the ER where when I was on the gurney promptly had a massive infarction with VF. Needed the paddles to kick start me!
She told me later that if it had happened anywhere other than on that gurney it would have been too late to restart me…
As an RN for over 30 years, more times than I could count. All in a day’s work. It’s not really something someone in a medical profession would even think about. Who cares–LOL!