Yesterday, I was waiting for a bus and all of a sudden, I heard a big thud. I turned around and saw a man lying on the ground, bleeding from his head. Luckily, a RN was right next to the accident site, so she ran over to him and applied pressure to the bleeding site (no fracture was detected) and paramedics came within minutes. The man survived with only minor injuries. I was of course shocked but it went by really fast.
I'm a nursing student but taking a part-time course load so I didn't have clinicals this year therefore I had no "skills" that I could help. I didn't want to make the situation worse. However I went over to the RN who was already there and stayed with them should she need my help.
Have you been in a similar situation? Please share your story.
I have been pressed in to service twice on an airplane. Once when a woman did a face plant in the isle right beside me. I rolled her over, assured an airway, checked her pulse and she opened her eyes. She had Chron's and was dehydrated. I helped her back to her seat, the stewardess got her something to drink, and all was well. The second time again on my twice a year overnight flight from Honolulu to Houston, they called asking for medical help. I went back to find a pale diaphoretic man clutching his chest. This is NOT what you want to see an hour out of Honolulu, over the ocean, 7 flight hours remaining. I asked for the AED, applied it as well as oxygen, saw that he was in third degree heart block and got pretty nervous. The plane had an emergency bag with an IV kit containing one bag of fluids and some benadryl. The stewardess wanted me to start an IV but I told her there was no reason. He did not need fluids and they had no drugs. It took me a very long time talking to the stewardess, the pilot, groung control med central but I finally convinced them to make an emergency landing in L.A. This man would not have made it to Houston. It was an exhausting 5 hour ride but I was able to monitor his vitals and, most importantly, sit and talk to him to help keep him calm. The medics came onto the plane and loaded him onto a chair strtcher and this stranger hugged me and thanked me for all that I had done. I was proud at that moment ( and always actually) to be a NURSE.
I was out walking on my favorite trail when I came across a man writhing on the ground.
My first thought was for my own safety. What if this was a trap and others were lying in wait behind a tree to rob me or something?
He was an off duty cop who had collapsed while running and was awake, pale, nonverbal and in some sort of pain. Luckily his running partner had called 911, sent a passing cyclist to direct the ambulance and I kept the ill man company until EMS arrived. Not much for me to do except monitor ABCs and keep him comfortable.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Once on a plane; at a traffic accident (I don't stop anymore); and once found a young girl lying by the side of the road who was obviously post-ictal. She couldn't remember where she lived, couldn't remember her name, etc. We drove around for a while, and I was getting ready to just take her to the hospital when she remembered where she lived. What really steamed my shorts was her parents weren't at all concerned, and didn't even say "Thank you." Jerks.
When I was a teenager, there was a really bad motorcycle accident right outside our church. The driver was dead. The passenger was lying in the road, screaming that God was punishing them because they'd smoked weed before going out on the bike. A neighbor called the ambulance, and I stayed with her till EMS came.
It was a bad accident; the guy was eviscerated as well as head trauma, and the woman had multiple fractures. I remember being with her in the road thinking, "I definitely want to be a nurse." I went to see the woman in the hospital the next day, and she kept thanking me for what I did for her.
smarkland
3 Posts
I have been pressed in to service twice on an airplane. Once when a woman did a face plant in the isle right beside me. I rolled her over, assured an airway, checked her pulse and she opened her eyes. She had Chron's and was dehydrated. I helped her back to her seat, the stewardess got her something to drink, and all was well. The second time again on my twice a year overnight flight from Honolulu to Houston, they called asking for medical help. I went back to find a pale diaphoretic man clutching his chest. This is NOT what you want to see an hour out of Honolulu, over the ocean, 7 flight hours remaining. I asked for the AED, applied it as well as oxygen, saw that he was in third degree heart block and got pretty nervous. The plane had an emergency bag with an IV kit containing one bag of fluids and some benadryl. The stewardess wanted me to start an IV but I told her there was no reason. He did not need fluids and they had no drugs. It took me a very long time talking to the stewardess, the pilot, groung control med central but I finally convinced them to make an emergency landing in L.A. This man would not have made it to Houston. It was an exhausting 5 hour ride but I was able to monitor his vitals and, most importantly, sit and talk to him to help keep him calm. The medics came onto the plane and loaded him onto a chair strtcher and this stranger hugged me and thanked me for all that I had done. I was proud at that moment ( and always actually) to be a NURSE.