Accidents happens every time and no matter what we do, we can never really prepare for it so if one happens in front of my eyes and there is no one else besides me that can provide the necessary help nor I can call the authorities due to poor phone service, I would not have any second thoughts and would offer a helping hands on them as accidents can be a battle against time. Every seconds lost might cost a life that can be saved. Not that I am a saint or someone seeking for a reward, its just that leaving people at that state when I am on a position to provide help will leave bad taste on my mouth and even gives me nightmares when I sleep.
During an accident, The first thing I would do is to assess the situation and look for any hazards that could cause to aggravate the situation such as incoming cars that could possibly collide with the victims or their vehicle. When the vicinity was clear of any hazards, it was the time to assess the situation of the victims and check the amount of the injuries that they sustain.
If there was no grave physical injuries on the victims, I would take a look at the conscious victim first. The reason for this is simple. "Two heads are better than one". Even if there were no grave physical injuries to be scene, it does not mean that there is none, internally and moving people carelessly might cause those injuries to worsen more but if there is among the people that could still move and provide help, we could lessen the chance of making the injuries worse. I could also ask them if they have first aid kit or things on their vehicle that would substitute for it such as liquor that would help sterilize wounds. For those that are conscious but cannot provide help, I would ask them to take a rest first or if they can, move away from the road and transfer to a safe spot while we take care of those that are unconscious. As for the unconscious, we will check on them to see if they were breathing and if they were not, would check for any airway obstructions and administer CPR and after that would check for their injuries. If the victim has wounds, will clean it and stop from bleeding and if they have fractures or dislocated bones, we would improvise by using straight objects and would tie it on the fracture parts to prevent it from moving. After tending and moving the unconscious, we will proceed with the others and apply the same thing if they were wounded or injured before moving them.
If there were grave injuries, I would change the priority to those with lives that are in danger. I would check if they were breathing and CPR when necessary. Once that I confirm that they were breathing, I would immediately ten to their wounds and stop the bleeding. At this point, I can't really do anything more and will just hope that they live. After that, I would check for the conscious people and see if there will be anyone that could help me to move them to safety.
The thing is that I received training from Philippine National Redcross, from my previous job way back 2015 and was a licensed first aider though my license got expire as I left the job and not have it renewed so I cannot proactively participate on doing first aid treatment and like other people might be held responsible if something bad happens because of lack of knowledge or wrong application of the first aid methods even if the intent was good. But on situations that I know that I am the only one that could provide help, I would use my knowledge and help the people that was in danger.
And I think that was it for this post. This was in participation with the Weekend Experience Community with topics provided by
The photos on this post were taken using my phone and I would need to ask the kids playing outside to lend me their toy for my thumbnail.
Thank you for reading my post!