You Witness an Injury/Accident - Render Assistance or Social Distancing?

[Midpack]

Yesterday I was driving home and came to a stop in my neighborhood. A small boy was coming down the cross street hill on a scooter (fast), looking at his friends. When he noticed my car I think it startled him and he turned sharply, crashed and went over the handlebars onto the street - hit very hard. He must’ve thought I didn’t see him and wouldn’t stop (I’d already stopped) and he panicked. He was laying in the middle of the street. I got out of my car to make sure he was alright - unsure whether I should get too close if he was seriously hurt. Fortunately his Dad was across the street and came running to his son, and I didn’t have to decide. More fortunately I think the boy and his scooter are OK, maybe a scraped knee. I apologized to the Dad, I don’t know if he saw the situation unfold or not, but he said “you’re good.”

So what would you do if you were the only adult nearby in today’s social distance environment? There’s no way to know how the parents might react (after the fact). Or if it was you and another adult, doesn’t have to be just a child.

 

[Moemg]

I would stop and depending on the situation I would offer help . If only to call911 but I am a retired RN so the response is built into me .

 

[FIREd]

In my locale, I'd have the legal obligation to stop and help to the best of my ability.

ETA: I don't think that the current legal distancing requirement would offer any kind of legal dispensation. No matter, I'd still stop and and help if needed.

 

[jollystomper]

I recently renewed my CPR certification, and one of the things taught was, if the person is responsive, to get permission from the person first before you attempt to provide aide.

I would always call 911. In these DC times I have a mask, glove, and CPR mask and face shield in my car, I would be sure to use them if I had to touch the person.

 

[Freedom56]

We would stop and help. We would ask if they need help and call 911 if required. My wife is a registered nurse (OR/Surgical). We always carry an emergency first aid kit in our car. We have masks and gloves in the kit.

 

[Aerides]

i can't imagine not stopping. If the person were a conscious adult, I might quickly ask "do you need help?" before touching them (in case they wished to decline) but a visible injury in front of me should be more important than a statistically-low-probability virus exposure.

And I can head home and scrub down quickly afterwards (since none of us should have much of a reason to be far from home these days).

 

[Ian S]

IMHO, unless you have medical training, attempting to help someone who is injured could worsen the problem. Call 911, perhaps comfort the injured, try to keep bystanders back, etc. Now if it's someone trapped in a car that's starting to burn, then I'll try to get the person out.

 

[candrew]

Would definitely stop and offer aid as needed and if nothing else, to ascertain if all is okay. It's the right thing to do.

 

[f35phixer]

IMHO, unless you have medical training, attempting to help someone who is injured could worsen the problem. Call 911, perhaps comfort the injured, try to keep bystanders back, etc. Now if it's someone trapped in a car that's starting to burn, then I'll try to get the person out.

+1

 

[cbo111]

DW and I have similar discussions regarding what to do if one of our single neighbors got the covid. I would feel ok going in their home to deliver food and check on them if I had a proper mask, but DW has a compromised immune system. I would be afraid of bringing back some germs into our home. It is a dilemma.

 

[Rianne]

I carry my mask in the car and bought a case of surgical gloves in early March (also carry an unused pair in the car). It's N99 military mask that lasts for 360 hours of use. Why I bought it on Amazon last year, not entirely sure, but I think it was a bad flu season. They looked cute on the Cambridge UK site. They are no longer available.


Yes, I would get out of the car and do what I could.

 

[Midpack]

Some of you seem to be answering without addressing the social distancing aspect - that’s my question. For a moment I was faced with a small boy lying in the middle of the street after a fall (that would’ve broken my old bones), injuries unknown, with no one around except 3 other small children. Made me ask myself what I should do if his Dad hadn’t been there, out of my sight until he came running. Of course I’d stop under pre-Covid conditions, and I know what to do/not do from years in industry, that wasn’t the question.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I would call 911 and stay near him so a car didn’t come and run him over.

 

[CaptTom]

I'd help. The virus, even if it's got a 1% fatality rate, is nowhere near as serious as what the victim in this case MIGHT have been dealing with. And I could mitigate by washing my hands or using hand sanitizer afterward.

Giving CPR would be another decision point. I don't carry a mask or gloves just walking around, but if the choice is certain death for the child or a 1% chance of me dying from an infection that the child may or may not have, I think I'd take those odds.

So that's how I'd answer the specific question. But I do have to add that calling 911 is pretty high on the list. I'd do that immediately after determining that there was any possibility of serious injury.

Look at it this way: Health care workers, and even grocery stockers, are being asked to put themselves in harms way to help others right now. I am no more important than any of them. If called to help, I would.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I don’t know how to do CPR and wouldn’t move the child because I could make the injuries worse.

 

[LOL!]

I have always stopped and rendered aid. I keep first aid stuff in my car and gloves. Plus I am trained on how to do a bunch of stuff, so I believe (wrongly or rightly) that I know the limits of what I can do to be helpful.

I have personally called 911, administered first aid, and the person still died a couple weeks later. I also had a job in a hospital as a nursing aid where one of my tasks was to clean up the fresh dead, so dead people don't bother me.

 

[youbet]

I would call 911 and stay near him so a car didn’t come and run him over.

Agree. I'd add though, look him over carefully from a distance and if there is serious bleeding, I'd help with that. But a broken bone or even a blow to the head should wait a few mins for the first responders to get there.

 

[Teacher Terry]

You, yes that’s a great point. I wouldn’t stand around and watch someone bleed badly over fear of the virus.

 

[CaptTom]

Agree. I'd add though, look him over carefully from a distance and if there is serious bleeding, I'd help with that. But a broken bone or even a blow to the head should wait a few mins for the first responders to get there.

Right. Always asses the scene first. What caused the injury? You don't want to walk into a downed power line or deadly gas or something.

If the victim is conscious, no need to get closer than six feet. You can ask them what's going on and asses from there.

If not, then it's absolutely essential to check for pulse and breathing. That's going to be tough from six feet away.

And to address severe bleeding or do CPR, you're going to be taking on some personal risk. I'd like to think most people would choose to help if they could, anyway.

 

[calmloki]

I've been isolated long enough now to be sure I'm virus free, so no fear of passing Covid to the victim. Short of mouth to mouth I'd give the aid I could, but mouth to mouth would give me pause - 60% yes?

 

[rodi]

I would stop and assist. I have a mask and hand sanitizer in my car - and even carry hand sanitizer on my daily dog walks... so if I had to place hands on to give first aid - I could clean up after.

If CPR were needed I might hesitate in this covid19 world we live in but I think I would still do CPR... (Got recertified about 5 months ago.) My thought process is that the person in your scenario was healthy (enough to be scootering recklessly, lol) and less likely to have an active case. But I would go home and gargle with listerine.

 

[rk911]

I would stop and depending on the situation I would offer help . If only to call911 but I am a retired RN so the response is built into me .

as it is with me. 35-years working public safety communications.

 

[Philliefan33]

I would offer whatever aid I could (BLS and First Aid certified). I carry gloves and a mask for mouth-to-mouth breathing in the car.

COVID-19 or not, I wouldn’t give mouth to mouth breathing on a stranger without a barrier. There’s worse things to catch (a firefighter at our station got hepatitis saving someone with CPR a few years ago). It is okay to do compressions only until someone shows up with proper protection.

 

[teejayevans]

I assume y’all who said you would stop, are virus free, if I thought I could be sick I would not.

 

[Winemaker]

As an EMT, with expired credentials, I would be compelled to stop. A 911 operator would talk me through any recent protocols. Covid virus be damned, besides, if I had it, I'd be hunkered down my underground wine cellar.