[survival]

Meaning, have you ever stopped to attend to a car wreck that just happened? Or for your military guys/gals, I know you have some good stories on this topic.

Myself, I have stopped at EVERY car wreck before EMT have arrived and assisted in some way. There have been situations that I came upon where obviously no help could be performed and made me cry like a baby hours later from seeing such a site.

The one I feel most proud about was when a van flipped on a wet road (Interstate) and I was the first to come upon it. It threw a 6 year old girl out, but she survived and was out in the middle of the interstate. Rain was coming down with visability of about 50 feet and I quickly grabbed her and ran to the side. Busted out the back of the van windows (van driver/passenger side was locked) with my baton on my keychain and grabbed a <1 year old out of the car seat. I was standing there holding the 6 year old and the baby in the pouring rain while others stopped and got the parents out. I calmed them down during this and wiped the blood away from the little girl so she wouldn't see the large gash in her arm.

They all lived.

 

[MikeyPrepper]

Meaning, have you ever stopped to attend to a car wreck that just happened? Or for your military guys/gals, I know you have some good stories on this topic.

Myself, I have stopped at EVERY car wreck before EMT have arrived and assisted in some way. There have been situations that I came upon where obviously no help could be performed and made me cry like a baby hours later from seeing such a site.

The one I feel most proud about was when a van flipped on a wet road (Interstate) and I was the first to come upon it. It threw a 6 year old girl out, but she survived and was out in the middle of the interstate. Rain was coming down with visability of about 50 feet and I quickly grabbed her and ran to the side. Busted out the back of the van windows (van driver/passenger side was locked) with my baton on my keychain and grabbed a <1 year old out of the car seat. I was standing there holding the 6 year old and the baby in the pouring rain while others stopped and got the parents out. I calmed them down during this and wiped the blood away from the little girl so she wouldn't see the large gash in her arm.

They all lived.

I have not. But if i have to i think ill be ready

 

[Watercanlady]

I have not had to actually save someone's life. But I have assisted at an accident or pulled someone from a ditch. Congrats to you survival it takes a special person to get involved...

 

[Prince Humperdink]

When I was a volunteer firefighter I sat with People holding their hands,or comforting them while We cut them out of their vehicles at wrecks,and would prep and carry them on the board to ambulance,and I think it helped them?The only life I ever"saved"was a kitten from a burning house.I think it made the little girls troubles go away for a bit when I brought that snot soaked kitten to Her.

 

[ekim]

When I was a volunteer firefighter I sat with People holding their hands,or comforting them while We cut them out of their vehicles at wrecks,and would prep and carry them on the board to ambulance,and I think it helped them?The only life I ever"saved"was a kitten from a burning house.I think it made the little girls troubles go away for a bit when I brought that snot soaked kitten to Her.

Same here, but after 8-1/2 years, the number saved from actually doing something like CPR or saving a person from drowning is not a very good number, but we/I did try. Our department response time was very good, but being very rural, ambulance/life flight times where quite long, so that was/is a factor.

 

[joec]

A number of times including delivering a baby once. Pretty much done a lot in both combat situations and civilian life.

 

[AsteroidX]

yes I have. Multiple times.

 

[Lucky Jim]

In youtube vids of all sorts of crashes, people seem to fall into 3 groups-
1- the chickenshits who turn around and walk away with heads in hands
2- the robots who stand just looking at the wreck
3- The heroes who run up and get stuck right in to rescue the victims

Check this out, the downed choppers engine is screaming like a banshee and could explode or catch fire anytime but there are plenty of heroes who get stuck straight in and rescue the pilot-

PS- i've never rescued anybody myself, closest was when I saw a glider force-land in a farmer's field half a mile away so I ran as fast as I could to help him, vaulting farm gates and hedges like an Olympic hurdler but he was fine. His support vehicle soon turned up so I helped him and his mates push the glider to the nearest road for dismantling and crating

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

More than a few times I have been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time, to be able to do something for someone else in dire need. Its ran the gamut from saving a fishing buddy that was drowning when I was a teen, to providing rescue and assistance in a major vehicle accident to saving 16 of my severely burned ship mates after an explosion ripped through a shipboard space despite 3rd degree burns on 55% of my body. Racked up quiet a few Bozo Buttons (medals) while in the military. Never veiwed as being a hero or anything like that but more so of just doing the right thing when it needed to be done. The hardest part for me is those you tried your best to help but couldnt do anything more than comfort them in their last minutes of life. That definitely sucked the most!

I have always had a knack for seeing a "Train Wreck" before it actually starts to happen. When things are crazy I have always had the ability to not panic and stay cool as a cucumber when everyone around me is freaking out and running around like a chicken with their head cut off. I am fortunate enough to have gotten a lot of training in the military in advanced first aid and I keep a day pack full of first aid equipment and some medical supplies in my truck. As such I am often times able to provide some pretty extensive first aid and provide critical information to first responders that are in route before they even arrive. Guess it s just some those early days of being a Bot Scout coming out in me...being prepared.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Just to digress, call me hard-hearted, but if I saw somebody driving like a f-----g maniac and smash into a tree, no way would I pull him from the burning wreck, I'd think "Burn you bastard, burn!"..

(PS- but if there were innocent passengers in the car, I'd probably help them get out, but i'd leave the driver to fry)

 

[johnnyringo]

Yes and no. After graduating from High School in MI, I worked midnights in a Detroit emergency room. It happened to be the same hospital where my dad died of cancer when he was 32. It also was the same hospital where my mom died as a student nurse 3 years later..also 32. I saw my first person die, a patient, before my eyes there. There were more than a few after that. We (the team) saved lots. Many years later a neighbors dog fell thru the ice at a nearby lake. She called, in a panic, as we were leaving for church that Sunday morning. I, with my family (wife and 4 young kids) went to see what I could do. We lived in a rural area with no fire or police nearby. I decided to go back to the house to get a ladder to lay on the ice to get to the dog. As I was about to leave I saw this woman ( a mother of 3) running thru the snow, in her housecoat and slippers with an inner tube. I knew at that moment if I left she would leave 3 orphans. I luckily had a 100' length of rope in the car. I tied it around me, walked out and broke thru the ice. Swam to the dog had called to my wife and kids to haul me back. I had almost no strength left. Dog and I lived. Mutt didn't like me before or after. Last person I saw take the last breath was my wife of 39 years. Cancer. I hate that ****ing disease! Probably off topic, but I feel a little better. JR

 

[Lucky Jim]

jimmy that not so good you were putt their at that time to save him

The day I rescue a maniac driver will be the day you can measure me up for a strait jacket!
What if I rescue him and then he gets another car and drives it into somebody and kills them?
Nah, the world's a better place without drunk or drugged drivers, let 'em burn I say..

 

[shotlady]

ive pulled over for wrecks to see if i can assist. but ive never saved anyone. kept them comfortable until real help arrived yes.

when my son is deployed- i date his wife, go to visit her 1x a month take her out, treat her to shopping, range time and a nice supper.
the last time i went to see her in santa barbara a little boy about 8 was all skinned up from crashing his little bike. i popped open my truck and got out the 1st aide kit, got him cleaned up and all fixed and sent him on his way. i spent about 10 minutes with him. it made me feel good to touch his little life like that.

 

[inceptor]

I was a volunteer fireman in central colorado for about 3 yrs. We fought maybe 2-3 fires during that time. It is a very remote area and by the time we got there, the homes were half gone. What we did the most of was highway accidents. 2 lane highways that saw more than it's fair share of mishaps. Some involving kids would tear your heart out. I never personally saved anyone but I was there to help. We had a great team. A number of people we had to air lift out because of the injuries. Some were gone when we arrived. It felt pretty good knowing we were able to help quite a few.

 

[bennettvm]

I have several times. My wife tells me that trouble follows me around for some reason. The first time was in my last college class. It was a weekend class and had an older number of people. One of the women in my group got up and walked to the door and collapsed. Her heart had stopped - no breathing/heart beat, etc. I started CPR and in about 1 minute - but it felt like forever, she started breathing again. EMTs arrived and took her to the hospital. She forgot to take her medication that morning apparently.

 

[whoppo]

I might have... or I could have just imagined it. Much of my youth is just a fog now....

but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last month.... oh... and I saved a bundle by switching to Geico!


ok... it's apparently time for me to walk away from the computer and go to bed.

 

[9UC]

I've been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time on several occasions through out my life. About 6 years ago a lady walked up to me at a funeral I was attending in Dallas and ask if I remembered her. I didn't so she reintroduced herself to my wife and I and proceed to tell me I had saved her life when she was about 7 years old. The incident she reminded me of was that when we were kids, she had fallen off the edge into the deep end of a local pool, she couldn't swim and the life guard was occupied else were. I was a 9 or 10 at the time, a pretty good sized and tall for a kid of my age, I could not swim either but I went in after her anyway. I jumped in feet first behind her, went to the bottom of the pool, grabbed her by the waist, elevated her as high as I could reach so her head was out of the water and walked the four to five feet feet back to the pool wall, shoved her up on the deck and drug my somewhat weary and frightened body out of the water. It wasn't funny then, but now I laugh about it now because the reason I had not remember is that we never told anyone what had happened, especially our parents, as we were not supposed to be at the deep end of the pool much less having one of our group get in above their head and we all would have had the board of education applied to the seat of learning in addition to having been grounded for the rest of the summer.

 

[Dr. Prepper]

It was 45 years ago when I learned that life and death are two things that mankind cannot control. At the age of 27 I was sent to DaNang, Vietnam as a very young intern. Three months later, after the 1968 TET offensive, I had 127 men on my scorecard. Many died some were saved. I still suffer from night terrors. I usually do not discuss or share any of this stuff but now that I'm getting old I seem to handle the personal pain OK.


That's me with the headlight on.


This was the east wwing when I arrived. About 100 yds. out the back door was China Beach (remember the TV series?).


This was the east wing 9 days later. Things get very busy in triage when there are incoming rockets 24/7.


This soldier didn't make it. At times we had 10 to 20 of these per day. They trained us to leave our emotions outside but all of us loved every soldier that came through our little hospital. It's really hard to perform through heavy tears.

 

[Deebo]

A huge thank you to all you Veterans, you guys saved all our lives. Cant imagine what "our world" would be like without you great men and women that are and have served.
On a personal note, I have a defining point in my life, when I was 18, on the way to work I was shooting my pistol across the street from my house. I secured the gun, was leaving down a long narrow dirt road when a black ford ranger came towards me. Inside I could see three "ruff looking individuals" -all white males, with a woman sitting in their laps, fighting and screaming for me to stop. I stopped and while getting out to retrieve my gun from behind the seat, the truck stopped and she flew out of there. She was a beautiful hitchhiker with a foriegn accent and excitedely told me the men had picked her up and were taking her in the hills to rape her. We followed them for a second, trying to get a plate number, but it wasnt safe, they were hauling ass. I tried to get her to go to local P.D. and report, but she stated she had some troubles of her own that she didn't want anything other than to "Get to Claifornia"...I reluctantly let her go outside my work.
I am positive she would have have a lot of bad stuff happen that day, probably even death...
Since then, I am more aware..

 

[Omega Man]

You should be proud of yourself for being the one who stopped vs the many who continued to drive past the scene. I have stopped many times too...you have too..