Rode up on first accident outside of hospital....

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey my fellow RN's! I need some advice.

I was on my way home from my moma's house and rode up on a car accident. Medics were not on the scene yet. I pull over, get out of my car and head to the first car. The guy is on his cell phone, says he hit his head, but otherwise ok. I hear medics running hot to the scene. I asked him if he knew what happened and he said "yeah". He knew what year it was and then he tells me to check on the guy in other car.

The other car is in the middle of the highway and traffic was stalled. I run over to the other car and bang on the window and he is also on his cell phone, he states he is not hurt and he is ok.

So, I leave since both guys are ok, the one who hit his head was A&O, and I heard sierens.

On the drive home, I couldnt help but think did the guy who hit his head may needed a CT? What if he had a brain bleed? Then I thought, I didnt even have any equipment in my car (only the kit the American Cross give you when you complete BLS) and even that was in my other car.

Would you have stayed? I'm wondering if I should have stayed until help actually got on the scene, although both parties "seemed" ok.

Now I'm beating myself up over this......

I would like to thank everyone for their opinions. Most of the replies gave me a different prospective.

I have decided if there is another scene where EMS is not there, I will call 911 from the car instead. I do have a desire to want to stop and help, but I want to do more good than harm.

I will be looking into taking a First Responder Rescue class in the near future. I simply don't have enough experience to handle in the field emergencies.

How would anyone know you're an RN, unless you have your car emblazoned with all sorts of RN gew-gaws? I'm unaware of any law requiring health care professionals to stop (at least in my state). It would be unenforceable.

For the record, I didn't go for the specialty plates.

This was just MY impression. I don't have any personalized plates on either one of my cars, so nobody would know I'm a RN unless they work with me.

One of my nursing instructors told us this during our first semester of nursing school and it always stuck with me. I'll look into it more.

Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

BTW; anyone who has taken the CPR III or Health Care Provider CPR course that RN's must have to practice has had training on assessment of an accident scene. It is par for the course and is something that maybe you've forgotten but all the courses and re-certs I've done always cover about assessing the scene of an accident with the implications that CPR might not or might be needed. The number one thing I remember is to access the scene for safety in regard to deciding whether or not it's safe to go onto the scene; neighborhood, weather, electric lines, damage to the vehicles etc...

As a Nurse, how could you NOT stop and help someone in this situation? I say kudos to you for having the guts to help these people.

Specializes in OB, ER.

I'm surprised so many people are choosing not to stop and help. I don't buy the I'm not trained excuse. If you are a nurse you know basic first aid, cpr, compassion and emotional support. No one is asking you to peform surgery or extricate trapped patients. Go up to the car tell the patient you are there, calm them, let them know help is coming. Keep them from moving. Holding c-spine is easy and appropriate. If you see something life threatening fix it. Do a jaw thrust to open an airway. Apply pressure to a gushing wound. Simple things that don't take a lot of skill or equipment. I can't imagine driving by and letting someone potentially die when I could have saved them by holding an airway or stopping some bleeding. You don't have to be a trauma surgeon to help. A calm voice and a smile does a lot for a freaked out victim.

I will be looking into taking a First Responder Rescue class in the near future. I simply don't have enough experience to handle in the field emergencies.

I think that's a great idea! Check with your local Red Cross chapter- I know mine offers a class like that.

The first rule of emergency first aid - survey the scene/assess hazards; take note of leaking fuel, fires, traffic, downed power lines - if you can't enter the area w/o risking your safety, don't do it. No brainer.

Always get consent from conscious victims before touching them, for the unconscious casualty consent is implied as it's generally accepted that most people want to live.

Has no one else taken emergency scene management? I'm surprised that some people could just walk away.

I've never taken a specific class in "emergency scene management," but everything you describe here has always been part of any BLS class that I've taken.

Specializes in Long Term Care, Pediatrics.

I would highly reccomend TNCC for every nurse, we all see accidents, whether it's the nursing home resident who falls and develops a pneumothroax or seeing a kid and dad get hit by a car, it's the peace of mind in knowing what to do.

I will go a little farther...stopping if no one is there is more than a nursing obligation, it's a human obligation. If you saw someone choking in a restraunt, would you walk away?

Obviously, check the scene for danger, but if it were me, even if you know NOTHING, stop and sit with me and tell me I'm not alone and help is coming.

I probably wouldn't have left in this situation, but you stopped, who knows how many other nurses drove past while you assessed the situation. Thanks for stopping.

Now...flame away.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

No flames here.

I always stop, and keep in mind all the cautions stated above. Need to get some more gloves into my car though! (BTW, baby wipes are useless at getting blood off your hands:rolleyes:)

As has been said, just having BLS means you know more than most. Good old ABCs. As far as leaving, you already established they both had patent airways and were breathing (talking on a phone shows pretty good resps:D), were circulating and not bleeding to death, and alert. If he did have a bleed and need a CT, what would you have done? not much to do before they get to the ER.

I would have waited, but I don't think you did anything wrong at all by leaving; you already knew help was coming, and there were no red flags to keep you. For them, just knowing someone cared enough to stop and offer help was a good thing.

Maybe it varies depending on where you are but here you aren't obligated to stop. However, if you do make the decision to stop and then leave the scene of the accident before help arrives, you can be charged- and it doesn't matter whether you're a medical professional or not.

Personally, I would stop to at least make sure all parties were concious and that someone had dialed 911. If the situation was extremely dangerous, then I would not go in. But I could never just keep driving like nothing happened because if I were the victim (and especially if my kids were with me), I would want someone to stop.

Specializes in Medical Surgical Orthopedic.

I would have stopped, too. But I would have changed into my spider man costume, first.

Specializes in PICU now, Peds and med-surg in the past.

I always stop at accident scenes (unless the first responders are already there) and make sure there is nothing I can do to help. Like others have said, I can do CPR, I can stabilize a c-spine, I can help hold open an airway - I can even try to get basic health info from a patient who is conscious (for now) but may lose consciousness before EMS arrives. I always check first for safety hazards to me (the smell of leaking fuel, downed power lines, something leaking from under the vehicles, vehicle in a dangerous physical position). I will always remember about 3 years ago an accident on a bank behind my house involving three girls, two of whom were younger sisters (teenagers) of two childhood friends. I saw right away that all 3 were breathing. One was unconscious and in a position that there was no physical way that I could get to her (car was literally wrapped around a tree with her head practically laying on the trunk). The two other girls on their own power started to get out of the vehicle (both had minor clavicle fractures and a little internal bleeding but recovered well). Anyway, my mom, brother, cousin and myself rushed to the scene and helped those two dazed girls sit down and stayed with them. They were so close to one of their mom's homes that she heard the accident and came running as well. Over the next several days my family and I got thank you visits/calls from that poor mom, the girl's father and sister thanking us for just being nice to the girls and trying to calm her until help arrived. I didn't use my nursing skills pretty much at all besides making the girls sit still and repeatedly checking through the window of the car to see if the other girl regained consciousness or stopped breathing (today she has finally recovered but it was a long road getting there). I feel like I was helpful that day and find it sad that any human being isn't willing to do that for someone else - I'm pretty sure if you were those girls and their familes, you would have wanted someone to try to help.

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