Did my shift and was driving home at 2 o clock along the westbound m62 when i came across an accident on the inside lane. Never give it a thought to stop and help due to seeing a few drivers on hard shoulder plus a policecar. What a mess.
As i passed i noticed a driver slumped out to the right where his door was but no cab was there. I thought about this guy and his family alot on the rest of my journey but i feel so ashamed with myself for being a qualified first aider and not stopping to offer my help. Now i am thinking of handing in my first aid badge.
Don’t beat yourself up over this. As you said help was already on the scene, including the police, and too many people stopping can be a hindrance, not to mention dangerous with yet another vehicle on the shoulder. I think you did the right thing in not stopping in this case.
scammellfan, I am with Coffeeholic on this, too many on the scene
of the RTA and you have conditions for bigger problems, also the police
as you said where there , plus a few other road users for all you knew
amongst them may have been a nurse or doctor or paramedic on
his way home ,I hate to point this out but after the initial accident
then is the next most dangerous time, as people run into the stationary vehicles, you did right mate, and believe me ,
like it or not you will get to use those first aid talents some time
when you are driving on the road,take it easy all the best,
saw a member of the police force as i stopped for fuel at the services,i was told the guy never made it.
scammellfan:
… but i feel so ashamed with myself for being a qualified first aider and not stopping to offer my help. Now i am thinking of handing in my first aid badge.
Hi scammelfan, I have to agree with Neil and Pete on this one mate…
There was already at least one qualified person on scene when you got there, and as I’m sure you’re already well-aware, there are times when you’d make no difference. This appears to have been one such time.
I’m also a qualified first-aider, and I’ve been in two separate situations in which the two people who most needed any help I could give were already dead. It might sound harsh, but in both cases I had to accept that their injuries were beyond my capabilities even if I had been there at the very moment they were injured.
First-aid is exactly that (a bit of patching up until proper help arrives) and nothing more.
We aren’t doctors, but even doctors sometimes lose a patient without being blameworthy in any way.
Take it easy mate, and please don’t let it get to you cos I’m pretty sure that your instinct to carry on driving was correct in the situation in which you found yourself.
As above, if the emergency services were already in attendence then you probably wouldn’t be able to do much, as Diesel Dave says, the first aiders role is to provide immediate care until professional help arrives.
Me too, with Neil, Dave, Pete and others, too many cooks spoil the broth. He probably wouldn’t have “made it” anyway