Question about an accident

First of all, I'm glad you weren't hurt in this accident. It's so terrifying to see a car so close to you go out of control, wondering if they might hit you. The shock of "Oh my God, that could have been me" if horrible. I agree that you should seek professional help. You might want to call the EMS station or police to see who they recommend. After a traumatic incident, personnel usually have what is called a critical incident stress debriefing, where people involved in the incident have the chance to talk about what happened, with professionals.

I also agree with the brainstem activity. It seems unreal to me the response time it took, but I've never lived in an area that was that far away from a responder. With EMS, some areas have direct protocols for no-codes (where not life saving action is performed). This includes if rigor mortis is set in, or decapitation.

You did the right thing by staying on the scene until help arrived and for even bothering to stop. Good for you, and just realize what happened to them was out of your control. -Andrea

What a tragic accident! And how good of you to stop and to wait for the ambulance to get there; many people would not even have taken the time to do that.

As you can see by my name, I'm a nurse who works in a hospital. I've never seen anything like what you describe. I'm certain that if I did, I would be very shaken up, and I would need to talk to someone about it.

I am posting because I have also seen dying people have that kind of breathing and sometimes other movement that is caused by brainstem activity, for a long period of time after they have died. Further, I also don't believe the person you describe was actually alive, but that there was only the brainstem activity causing the movements you describe.

Come back and talk all you need to, but I hope you will find some professional to talk to about this traumatic event that happened to you. A professional nurse could not have done any more than you did, and I commend you for your caring actions.

:icon_hug:

I agree that attending a CISD (critical incident stress debriefing) would be helpful for you in this situtation. I attended one after running a particularly bad MVA (2 fatalities, 1 critical w/ prolonged extrication) and I found it very helpful. You can also check with the departments that ran this call (law enforcement, FD and/or EMS) and see if you can talk to a Victim's Assistance counselor. These would be available for no fee.

I also wanted to add a comment on the response time - the OP stated that this accident happened during a heavy rain storm. I can easily imagine an hour+ response time in a rural area w/ bad weather. Compound that with the likelihood of other calls and only 1 or 2 crews to work them, necessitating a crew from neighboring area to run that particular call. It's unfortunate, but it happens. I'd guess that the weather played a bigger role in the response time than anything else.

What a horrifying experience - I hope you're starting to feel okay.

I know a lot of people have already posted this, but it doesn't hurt to repeat that from what you describe there wasn't anything you could have done that would have changed the outcome.

A nurse friend of mine had a similar scene in her front yard (young guys driving fast wiped out coming around a corner too fast). She said that she always thought it would be hard to be in a situation like that and not know what to do, but that it was worse knowing what to do and being helpless.

That said, you might want to think about taking a first aid course (including CPR) at some point, if only to help you feel better equipped.

Seeking counselling/debriefing is a really good idea.

What a horrifying experience - I hope you're starting to feel okay.

I know a lot of people have already posted this, but it doesn't hurt to repeat that from what you describe there wasn't anything you could have done that would have changed the outcome.

A nurse friend of mine had a similar scene in her front yard (young guys driving fast wiped out coming around a corner too fast). She said that she always thought it would be hard to be in a situation like that and not know what to do, but that it was worse knowing what to do and being helpless.

That said, you might want to think about taking a first aid course (including CPR) at some point, if only to help you feel better equipped.

Seeking counselling/debriefing is a really good idea.

I want to thank all of you for your responses. I feel very welcomed here and enjoy reading what you have to say. I do feel better about the whole accident (it happened on thanksgiving day). I was truley hurt because i felt like i wasnt able to do anything. This is one of the reasons i really want to be a nurse. I want to know what to do and how to do when in a situation like such. I want to help people and be there to comfort the family's of these people and i feel like i've been very strong in this situation and it helps encourage me even more to become a nurse. Thank you all

:)

I want to thank all of you for your responses. I feel very welcomed here and enjoy reading what you have to say. I do feel better about the whole accident (it happened on thanksgiving day). I was truley hurt because i felt like i wasnt able to do anything. This is one of the reasons i really want to be a nurse. I want to know what to do and how to do when in a situation like such. I want to help people and be there to comfort the family's of these people and i feel like i've been very strong in this situation and it helps encourage me even more to become a nurse. Thank you all

:)

I'm glad something positive has come out of this for you. While I was waiting to finish my pre-req's for nursing school, I decided to become an EMT. I had some basic knowledge, b/c I had volunteered in a ER for 3 years as a teenager. My triggering experience? I remember sitting in my living room, hearing a dog bark next door. Peeved, b/c we weren't allowed to have pets. Later on, I heard screaming. I opened my door to find out what was going on, and a young boy with a bloody eye came towards me. I gave him gauze I had in my medicine cabinet to put on it, and went next door to see what was going on. I will never forget walking in, seeing a pitbull with it jaws locked around an older woman's breast. She was screaming "he's tearing my boob off!" over and over. I remember bringing over a big knife, and one girl told me no, not to kill it. She had her hands in the dogs mouth, trying to pry it open, while her roommate, a paraplegic, was pulling on the dogs tail. Thank Go dthe dog didn't turn on her. I ran upstairs while calling 911, and finally got neighbors to come and help. They poured Kool-Aid on the dog, and he let go. Then he chomped down on her arm. I can still remember the crunch. They poured somethign else on him, and while she was running out the door, he got her on the back of her thigh. He finally let go, and we got her outside and the dog inside. I remember holding her up, applying pressure on her arm (she was bleeding badly), and telling her she needed to stay awake. I remember giving a short report to the EMT, then helping the girl in the wheelchair clean blood off of the floor of the apartment.

Long story to say this: That experience made me feel helpless. I could remember small bits of what to do, but really didn't have much of a clue. I took my lack on knowledge and made something of it. I know try to make sure I am prepared for whatever happens. I have a BP cuff, scope, and gloves in the trunk of my car. If I could get IV supplies, I would keep some of those too.

Big props to you for choosing nursing as a career from this experience, rather than running from it. -Andrea