At scene of fatal accident yesterday...

[jamieslovingmom]

Yesterday afternoon, I heard a bang outside my window and soon hubby came into the house to let me know that there had been a head-on collision outside of our house. I went outside immediately to offer assistance. When I arrived on scene, I saw a badly crushed small SUV on the side of the road with a young woman lying beside the vehicle. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was a passenger... her mother (driver) was killed on impact and trapped in the vehicle.

My neighbor was already out there and on the phone with the 911 dispatch. There was also a young boy in the car, but other drivers that had stopped when they saw the accident had him out pretty quick...he was not badly injured as he had been strapped in his corificeat in the rear seat. I went to the young woman on the ground, assuming she had been ejected from the vehicle. She was face down on the ground, not moving. I shook her and tried to rouse her...I saw her back move slightly twice...about 30 seconds apart...as though she was trying to breathe, but when I checked her pulse, there was nothing and she didn't move at all after that.

The neighbor handed me the phone and I spoke with the dispatch who asked me if I could do CPR. The girl was on her belly and when I tried to find her face, all I could see was blood and dirt. At that time, our local dentist came on scene and also checked the girl's pulse and couldn't find anything. I asked him if we should do CPR and he said he didn't think it would help...she looked beyond saving to him.

Today I feel awful...I feel like I should have tried to do CPR anyways. This girl was a young teenager and a member of our church and high school. I just didn't see how I could roll her over without making her injuries worse...I suspect she had a broken neck and/or severe internal injuries. The vehicle that hit them was a large pickup and the combined impact was at least 120 mph. It didn't help either with my neighbor hovering over me saying "You're a nurse right?" (I'm an LPN). I have just been second guessing myself all day and didn't sleep last night...kept having flashbacks every time I closed my eyes.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[sharpeimom]

Witnessing or rendering aid at an accident with a fatality is traumatic, whether you're a nurse, a first responder, or a MD. It's especially so to a layperson. We live at the bottom of a very long steep curved

hill. Until about a year ago, it was a four way stop, but now it's two way, with the signs being our way.

There have been several fender benders and three fatalities since then. We live one house from the corner

and have gone to check each time we were home. We have called 911 and taken passengers into our home

in inclement weather.

In one instance, on my insistence, my husband kept on distraught husband from moving his wife or trying to

stand her up. The paramedic said it kept her from becoming paralyzed. You just don't know. What I DID know that time was that as a psych nurse, I was waaaay out of my league. She was so injured that my husband and I were afraid to begin CPR when she stopped breathing. That was just as help began to arrive and took over.

Our job was to take their baby and toddler inside where it was warm, where they wouldn't have to watch.

Do get counseling, you did everything you should have. You really did.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

rigor mortis, and decomposition.

People don't really try to resuscitate in these cases, right? Please tell me people don't try in these cases.

[jamieslovingmom]

mmutk,

The medics did nothing...she was already clearly gone. The coroner's report came out in the paper this morning and he ruled that both victims died on impact.

[Krystalanne]

I'm so sorry for this traumatic ordeal... Hugs to you.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

People don't really try to resuscitate in these cases, right? Please tell me people don't try in these cases.

I was referring to my employer's policy. If you are not going to pronounce them dead (in accordance with your state BON's regulations), then there must be a policy for when to do CPR or withhold and pronounce. This is important for nurses working out of the hospital environment, without a physician present. Maybe a topic for another thread, as this thread should be about supporting the OP.

[jamieslovingmom]

Thank you all for your assurances...I am feeling much more at peace with everything.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

People don't really try to resuscitate in these cases, right? Please tell me people don't try in these cases.

Actually at one time medics were to scoop and run and resuscitate almost at any cost except where dismemberment and obvious decay we apparent. Thank goodness those laws have changed.