Been asked to help in an emergency because you are a nursing student?

[all4ofus, ASN, RN]

I just had an experience that shook me up a little. A neighbor's kids were playing on the ice in the street this afternoon. One of them, a 17-year-old boy, fell and got hurt. Another neighbor, knowing that I am in nursing school, came to my door and asked me for help. It's freezing out, I had to change from shorts to jeans and get on some shoes (there were other people out with him). When I got to my door again, the boy was still lying in the street, and his mother was bringing him a sleeping bag. They said he was talking, but he still wasn't trying to get up. By this time it had been at least three to five minutes, so I just called 911. While I was on the phone with 911, the boy's parents got him up and walked him into their house. The ambulance came anyway, and they did end up taking the boy to the hospital with at least a broken nose. The reason I am feeling a little bad is because even after two semesters of school, didn't really know what to do. All that assessment info went out the window, and all I could think of was to call 911. I didn't even actually go up to the boy and look at him before I called. I mean, my neighbor came to my door just because she knew I was in nursing school, yet I did absolutely nothing useful except call 911, and whether that was useful or not is debatable. His parents could have saved the ambulance bill and just driven him to the hospital themselves. I guess I wonder whether I should have let them handle it however they were going to handle it instead of calling 911? Should I have tried harder to do an assessment and THEN called 911? Has anyone else been asked to help in an emergency just because someone knew you were in nursing school?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

You did fine - that's what I would have done too.

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

u did the right thing. theres not much more u really could do anyways. --- call 911, and if ur up to it go assess the kid, if he did have a serious injury/issue..u can relay that to EMS and it will help their care be more complete.

nursing student doesnt equal superhero, dont worry about it LOL.

everyone & their mother calls/texts me bc im an emt... and honestly i give them advice that i would use for MYSELF if i were in their situation... cut finger?.. clean it bandage it, watch for infxn & if it gets yucky go to the doc..not rocket science..

i wish they'd ask me something i do know like whats the therapeutic serum level of theophylline or the half life of morphine..... challenge me people lolz

[mortalol]

In july i'm finishing nursing school and this is one of my biggest fears... I just don't know if i'm prepared enough to handle these situations. With my friends we usually say that if someone in the street suddenly falls down we'll probably start shouting "is there any doctor here to help him?" I hope we'll become more confident after spending some time in the ER

[all4ofus, ASN, RN]

LOL, you guys are too funny! But I feel reassured, which is exactly what I was looking for, really. Thank you! :)

[Turd Ferguson]

You did the right thing, keep in mind you're still a student- not yet licensed to practice and use all of those great skills you've learned!

I've had people in church ask me to look at their kid's rash, ear, big toe, whatever- because they know I'm a nursing student! I tell them "I'm just a student, there's really nothing I can tell you..."

Bottom line- you did the right thing!

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

911 is never a bad idea. They can always refuse transport with no charge. For all you know the kid could have been choking to death on his own blood. Always take spinal precautions in trauma, then assess the ABCs.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Lets see, kid slipped fell, broken nose so you know there is trauma to the head. Good call on the 911.

[suanna]

It has always amazed me how many nurses want to run up to a trauma and announce "I'M A NURSE" with a save the day spirit. When a trauma comes into the ER with all the trauma protocals in place we are hard pressed to make a life-saving intervention. That job is done in OR. Without a CT scanner, rapid transfuser-and blood, pressors and a surgeon on the side, a nurse is little more than a boyscout with first aid training. What we bring to the trauma is a calm head in a crisis, and a sense of caution- the worst is always a possibility- it's better to err on the side of safety. It sounds like you brought enough to be effective to the accident- no one else called 911!!!???. That is the most vital intervention and it was your priority. You could have done a little hand holding, and a cursory assussment-pulse strong, no SOB, good LOC, no obvious large blood loss... These will come as you get a little more experience in the blood-guts-and-gore of the job. Not that those things would have done much to change the outcome( except maybe the hand holding). Even if you found him out and pulsless- did CPR, and got him back- the real work comes at the trauma center, not the roadside- you did fine.

[2ndyearstudent, CNA]

You always do whatever you can within the scope of your practice. The first thing you do if you know someone is injured and needs help is make sure 911 is called and advanced medical help is on the way. You did that.

Saving money on ambulances is someone else's concern.

When I was in CNA class at the Red Cross in Minneapolis, the 35W Bridge collapsed a couple hundred yards away and my class along with everyone at the Red Cross pitched in to help. Each of us did whatever we were able. Some people with experience tore ass down to the site, some helped casualties that were coming up as ambulances began arriving and pulling away. Many in my class helped look after a busload of injured and terrified kids as they were triaged, taken to the hospital, or waited there for their parents to arrive.

We also helped build and stock the command post that sprung up in the parking lot.

That was a scary experience, but I learned a heck of a lot from it. If something like that happened now, I would feel like I could draw on that experience to make a positive difference.

[CuriousMe]

You're a nursing student, not a first responder with a fully stocked ambulance. It's a different skill set.

As others have said, calling 911 was the right move.

[iPink, BSN, RN]

Great job calling 911. I had a similar discussion with my peers. One of my classmates witnessed a car accident and felt she should have pulled over and done something. But, we advised the best thing to do IS call 911 and not move the individual(s).