justanothermedic

Growing up in the East, I recall that my parents were always good at stopping and rendering aid. I also remember waiting at an accident on I-84 in New York circa 1969 and seeing impatient people drive over people's belongings laying in the road rather than wait (my parents were appalled; it made quite an impact on me - I can still hear the crunching of pots and pans).
I wasn't involved in emergency services until after we moved West, so I can't compare East vs. West. I'm not terribly surprised about the Utah behavior; people here generally seem to stop and offer to help. The biggest issue is trying to strike a balance between bystander/civilian safety and using the additional resources.
The best example I have is from about 7 years ago. The fire district I'm on is quite small (~120 square miles 1st due, several hundred square miles mutual aid). We got called to a rollover right on the Western edge of the district. At the time, we had very few responders on the Western end; most of our folks responded from our main station about 14 miles East (and down a mountain pass) from the accident. Mutual aid from the next district over was ~30 miles away. Our SOG was that I would respond POV to the scene, and sort it out as well as possible (we now have a station on the Western end, and more responders, so we don't do this anymore). I arrived on scene (with my PPE and radio) to find what appeared to be multiple vehicles, some of which were demolished (it turned out to be 1 full sized pickup towing 2 trailers; a house trailer (which transformed into matchsticks) and a flatbed with ATVs on it). My response was pretty quick - probably 5 minutes from page to on scene - but there were already ~20 people and numerous vehicles who had stopped to help. All this on a 2-lane highway that is 'busy' by Wyoming standards, but not really very busy ... I think pretty much every passing vehicle must have stopped!
My first problem was figuring out what had happened (it wasn't obvious), then figuring out who was actually _in_ the accident and who was helping. Since I had bunkers on, I at least looked like I was in charge(!); I yelled out, "if you were in the accident, raise your hand!". I quickly found out I had 4 patients. 2 were walking wounded (I had them sit down, and assigned a couple of civilians to monitor them, after giving them instructions). 1 had been ejected _over_ a barbed wire fence, and was laying face down AAOx4 but clearly hurt and in pain (I triaged him, then instructed a few more civilians on how to hold C-spine [yes, I gave them gloves too]), then was directed to patient 4, who was laying in the back seat of the pickup complaining of lower back pain (triaged, then assigned a few more civilians to hold C-spine and monitor him). I then took a few civilians and had them help me get traffic control started (it was mostly off the road, but there was some lane intrusion). Once the rest of the department got on scene (it seemed like it took forever, but was probably about 15-18 minutes), I started replacing civilians with our folks. I was blown away by how helpful the civilians were. All they wanted was some direction, and to help. Without them, it would have been a huge mess, and patient care would have been delayed.
I can't say for sure that this always happens, but I have way more stories of people stopping and helping than driving past.
Results, by the way:
2 walking wounded - transported & released (no injuries)
1 ejection - fx pelvis
1 back pain - fx lower (lumbar area) vertebrae

Growing up in the East, I recall that my parents were always good at stopping and rendering aid. I also remember waiting at an accident on I-84 in New York circa 1969 and seeing impatient people drive over people's belongings laying in the road rather than wait (my parents were appalled; it made quite an impact on me - I can still hear the crunching of pots and pans).
I wasn't involved in emergency services until after we moved West, so I can't compare East vs. West. I'm not terribly surprised about the Utah behavior; people here generally seem to stop and offer to help. The biggest issue is trying to strike a balance between bystander/civilian safety and using the additional resources.
The best example I have is from about 7 years ago. The fire district I'm on is quite small (~120 square miles 1st due, several hundred square miles mutual aid). We got called to a rollover right on the Western edge of the district. At the time, we had very few responders on the Western end; most of our folks responded from our main station about 14 miles East (and down a mountain pass) from the accident. Mutual aid from the next district over was ~30 miles away. Our SOG was that I would respond POV to the scene, and sort it out as well as possible (we now have a station on the Western end, and more responders, so we don't do this anymore). I arrived on scene (with my PPE and radio) to find what appeared to be multiple vehicles, some of which were demolished (it turned out to be 1 full sized pickup towing 2 trailers; a house trailer (which transformed into matchsticks) and a flatbed with ATVs on it). My response was pretty quick - probably 5 minutes from page to on scene - but there were already ~20 people and numerous vehicles who had stopped to help. All this on a 2-lane highway that is 'busy' by Wyoming standards, but not really very busy ... I think pretty much every passing vehicle must have stopped!
My first problem was figuring out what had happened (it wasn't obvious), then figuring out who was actually _in_ the accident and who was helping. Since I had bunkers on, I at least looked like I was in charge(!); I yelled out, "if you were in the accident, raise your hand!". I quickly found out I had 4 patients. 2 were walking wounded (I had them sit down, and assigned a couple of civilians to monitor them, after giving them instructions). 1 had been ejected _over_ a barbed wire fence, and was laying face down AAOx4 but clearly hurt and in pain (I triaged him, then instructed a few more civilians on how to hold C-spine [yes, I gave them gloves too]), then was directed to patient 4, who was laying in the back seat of the pickup complaining of lower back pain (triaged, then assigned a few more civilians to hold C-spine and monitor him). I then took a few civilians and had them help me get traffic control started (it was mostly off the road, but there was some lane intrusion). Once the rest of the department got on scene (it seemed like it took forever, but was probably about 15-18 minutes), I started replacing civilians with our folks. I was blown away by how helpful the civilians were. All they wanted was some direction, and to help. Without them, it would have been a huge mess, and patient care would have been delayed.
I can't say for sure that this always happens, but I have way more stories of people stopping and helping than driving past.
Results, by the way:
2 walking wounded - transported & released (no injuries)
1 ejection - fx pelvis
1 back pain - fx lower (lumbar area) vertebrae

2004 Buell Lightning (well, it is a Harley motor). It is a little customized here and there (pipe, mirrors, reworked tail section, seat) but nothing very dramatic. When I lived in the Mid-Hudson Valley (in the 1980s), I road raced and dirt tracked. My favorite Harley of all time was Lucifer's Hammer (see picture; unfortunately not me riding it). I recall Jay Springsteen passing me (in practice) at Loudon/turn 3 in the early-mid 1980s. I was on one of my TZ250s, and I could feel that bike rumble by! Mine has enough of that sound to make me smile.