I want to tell an interesting story, I'm going to make it anonymous here under the fictitious name of George.
George was driving down a busy city boulevard when he saw a boy lying in the middle of the street, motionless. Other people were just watching as the cars passed, dodging the body on the ground.
Since George had already studied emergency response and the bystander effect of getting people not to act on the assumption that someone else would act, he started or stopped the car at the light and ran to see what it was about. Upon arriving, he saw an unconscious man and a lot of blood smeared across the asphalt. Immediately, he called SAMU (this is the name of the medical emergency here in Brazil).
On the phone, the attendant says that there is no ambulance available, that it would take too long; she recommended “finding a way” to help him. Fortunately, traffic police and police cars were passing by. George asked the two to stop, quickly explained the situation, and asked for support.
The traffic guard's response: “not here, we can't use the vehicle to help people”. The police, for their part, were transfixed by a vague conversation as the unconscious man bled in front of them on the asphalt.
“Can someone help me carry it? I will help you in my car. ”
A first-aid nurse, who happened to be passing by, offered to stabilize his neck while another passerby helped George carry the body to the car, without the support of police and guards. When he arrived at the public hospital emergency room, there was no one to attend to the man. The most they got was a wheelchair. The doorman helped by getting some gloves to avoid contact with blood and stabilize the neck; George had to carry the man alone from the car to the chair...
George explained to me later that it was clear to him that he could only carry it because he had been serious about the gym for the past few months, otherwise he wouldn't have the strength to do so. Inside, more lethargy in the hospital, neglect and unpreparedness of the doctor on duty. Eventually, after insisting, the patient has been seen and is no longer at risk.
This story illustrates and concretizes several points of contemporary life:
- Life is full of catastrophic situations and suffering. Otherwise, be grateful for the moment of peace, but be prepared as it will get worse. It is the nature of existence. We need to be prepared to act when necessary.
- The antidote to the ills of society is the well-developed individual. You can't count on institutions to do what needs to be done in times of stress. The State has failed at every possible level in the above situation; it is likely that a life was saved because the prepared person chose to take responsibility and act.
- No need for grandiose actions to change the world - start around you. George acted when it was not a social obligation but a necessary one (because of his ethics and morals).
- Being strong, being in shape, having resources at your disposal is much more than vanity. It's out of necessity. Going to the gym is tiring, painful, and unpleasant at first, but it leaves you in shape and fit for action. When we see the effort to get in shape as an aesthetic matter, our motivation falters; When we consider that this can make a difference when it comes to saving someone's life (perhaps a loved one), we take it seriously.