Do you ever scream to yourself “I wish I could do something!!!” But your hands are tied for some reason or another?
I had a friend recently tell me she felt like she couldn’t do anything to help during a traffic accident that we witnessed. The truth of the matter is that she played a pivotal role in helping one of the victims (the one that caused it) of that accident. Her position? Taking care of my son while I ran to take control of the scene until better trained personnel arrived. By the time I got there, two elderly people were getting out of their vehicle one with a panic attack and the other trying to make sure his wife was okay. After helping her to the curb, I quickly noticed that someone had taken the guy from the first vehicle out and was helping him to the curb. Something that should not have been done, as he was barely ambulatory. They helped him to the ground and then backed off not knowing what else to do.
That's when I rushed to his side to keep him up. Given his visible injuries, there’s a high likelihood that if I had not responded, the victim could have suffered further injuries when he fell over. So you understand the situation a bit more- the above photo was provided to our local newspaper (The Journal Online) and is the is the traffic accident I responded to. If you look to the left side of the photo about half way down is the feet of the person who was in the vehicle with deployed airbags. His feet clearly are not supporting his weight, and neither were his hands. One of which was so large it probably had a broken wrist, and the other was resting on the pavement as though he was trying to support himself, but it wasn't going to happen. So here was the list of injuries we could see: Possible broken wrist, possible broken nose, and a concussion. The one thing we did not have the luxury of assessing was whether or not he had a spinal or neck injury. The most anyone could do for him at this point was keep him with his head above his heart, talking and monitoring for any other obvious signs of medical issues. I got lucky, before first responders arrived, a nurse from the line of cars behind us took notice and came out to help monitor all three victims with me.
The thing is, sometimes we don’t know how important we are. Even something that seems like such a minor thing may be the most valuable thing you do. My friend, who has gone through this a couple of times with me (XD), may not have the training I have, but she has none-the-less been significant to 4 Traffic incidents we’ve encountered over the last two and a half years- all because she was willing to watch after a child while his mother rushed to the aide of others.