Has anyone ever assisted in a roadside emergency?

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My dh (also a nurse) and I were witnesses to a horrible accident next to us one day, there were two vehicles so he and I split up, my elderly driver had broken the windshield with his head and cracked the dashboard with his knees, blood and glass everywhere. We had gloves so I applied pressure to the scalp wound and convinced him to be still until EMS arrived. An Army vehicle stopped and it turned out they had cones, traffic vest, etc and diverted traffic until the ambulance and police arrived. I was glad to have been able to help.

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Can ya say ...Seat belts saves lives!!!

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Seat Belts....or what's this crap I've heard about through me from the wreckage???

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Always wear your seat belts!!

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Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.
Just exactly what roads do you travel to see so many accidents so I can STAY OFF THOSE ROADS between 4-5am. :)

NW Georgia: I-75, US41, US411

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My nursing instuctor assisted in a roadside emergency. He then got sued for not (allegedly) working at a level on par with his skill level. He had insurance and the insurance paid them off. My other nursing instructor refuses to work roadside emergencies. I stopped to help a drunk driver who had crashed into a wall. She later claimed I had caused the accident!!!!!!!! I had to go to court, at the last minute she accepted a plea bargain and I did not have to testify. Still, I don't do roadside emergencies.

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My nursing instuctor assisted in a roadside emergency. He then got sued for not (allegedly) working at a level on par with his skill level. He had insurance and the insurance paid them off. My other nursing instructor refuses to work roadside emergencies. I stopped to help a drunk driver who had crashed into a wall. She later claimed I had caused the accident!!!!!!!! I had to go to court, at the last minute she accepted a plea bargain and I did not have to testify. Still, I don't do roadside emergencies.

What a sad time in our country:( It's probably the parasitic blood sucking lawyers preying off the misfortunate crash victims. You've seen the commercials. I'm sure they know that a nurses may carry insurance for this reason? Too bad a good intention can be turned against you.

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when my grndma got hit by a car i was part of an ems exployers post and thye tought some things and i am first aid cpr and aed cerfitied and i was at our local dollar store and all of a sudden i look up to see her laying on the ground and this whomen has her head on her lap and i was like how do u know if she has a head injury or not? and they called 911 and im surprised 911 didnt instruct someone to do head stabliaztion adn there was a nurse there and she said she was an er nurse and she was just standing there i would of thought she would of been like dont touch her and she would do head stabilzeation. when the ems and police came the where like why wasnt the head stablized at all and they maily looked at the nures who had her id badge on from the hosptail she worked at. the main thig that i did was keep my grndma calm untill help came. and i did a basic head to toe survey with out moveing her and she had two broken legs. i did the best i could for the traing i had.

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Specializes in MICU.

"there were about 40 people standing around watching, half of them were screaming at me to do cpr. um, people, she's breathing and she has a pulse, i'm not going to perform cpr. i wish i knew how things turned out for her."

maybe we should stop just to keep the "do-gooders" from actually hurting the patient (although i am sure they mean well....it is still a little scary)

and aren't you glad that the lay public cannot push a button to shock with the aeds......

things that make you go hmmmmm

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Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.

maybe we should stop just to keep the "do-gooders" from actually hurting the patient (although i am sure they mean well....it is still a little scary)

that is exactly why i do stop....

and aren't you glad that the lay public cannot push a button to shock with the aeds......

thank a merciful god!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC.

Yeah - a long time ago - someone got a gunshot wound in the shoulder/upper arm and was bleeding profusely from the brachial artery. I stuck my hand in there and the ambulance took 45 minutes to get there. Fortunately he survived but I was up to my elbows in blood, the whole front of his car was full of blood and I was 8 months pregnant. Only afterwards I had the ghastly realisation of all the consequences of going in there unprotected. Now at least I have gloves in the car but it has kinda scared me off from doing that again.

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Specializes in Med/Surge.

I was subbing for the high school nurse yesterday and just happened to go out to our local Dairy Queen for lunch and while sitting at the drive thru heard this huge crash. Looked out the window and two cars had hit each other so I pulled out of the line and ran over to the scene. Mainly was trying to keep the teens that were involved calm and sitting and trying to get the lady that was behind the drivers seat in the other car to do the same to prevent an asthma attack until our EMS arrived. Glad I was there b/c the volunteer fireman was going to just let the 2 teens go home when one, who had a laceration to the top of his head from most likely the windshield and s/s of concussion and the other was having problems breathing from air bag deployment. Thank goodness the parents showed up and had the good sense to drive them to the local hospital.

My list of things to do today is to make an emergency bag to leave in my car. I remember my grandmother, as a child, who was a nurse, always stopping to help and I will be the same way.

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