Watched a guy die

mxz800

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I pulled into Circle K to piss (I'm on diuretics) and get a drink. I heard someone yelling outside so I go look. The empty parking space next to my car there is a guy face down on the pavement.

I checked he was breathing, no way could I dial 911 with my hand tremors, so had someone else call.

The guy's boss was pumping gas at the furthest pump so he had no idea what was going on until he walked up to the front door.

The fire department showed up, they flipped him over than the guy stopped breathing.

I told one of the fireman they need to talk to the guy's boss who was freaking out at the side of the building.

They put a machine on the guy that does CPR. They couldn't get a pulse etc.

The boss was crying and telling the cops the guy was in his 50s, and he couldn't get anyone on the phone that knew the number of his wife.

I find it hard to believe that they could of saved him.
 
Once they put the CPR machine on, it usually means it is beyond them doing it themselves. Basically gets them to the hospital to call it so they don't spend the next 6 hours in the field waiting for the coroner to do it. Sorry you had to witness this.
 
You get used to it after a few of them.

I haven't yet. I watched my brother die, he begged me to live there was nothing I could do. If I could've traded places I would've in a heartbeat.

I found my father when he died. I did CPR on my second cousin. The doctor at the hospital said he was dead before he hit the ground.

I was talking to a guy I knew, he was going to go home to check on his wife, because she wasn't answering her phone. His son, and wife had been killed by his stepson, when he went into the house he was killed.

I stopped at Cumberland farms to get a drink, there was a woman I know in her car. She called me over talked to me for quite awhile.

Then she told me she was going to a baseball game. What I didn't know was she was going to drive her car onto the field trying to run over people. She only killed one person.

I was an EMT years ago, I've seen more than I ever want to.
 
My first career out of high school was as a Navy Rescue Swimmer, kept it up for 17 years before getting injured too badly to continue. I saw way more situations than I wanted to during that time. Treated everything from minor cuts and abrasions to massive burns and limb loss. Didn't save all of them. I learned to deal with it, but I don't think I ever got used to it. I think it is healthy to need to take a step back and get your head straight after a bad one, because it's either that or get out of the business.
 
I was an EMT years ago, I've seen more than I ever want to.

I was an EMT in Los Angeles for 5+ years, so I've definitely seen more that I wanted to for one lifetime. Shootings, stabbings, car accidents, drug OD, etc. Though being an EMT, you aren't there to witness what happened which is a major part of the trauma. You show up after, often knowing what you're going to see when you get there. You get desensitized to a lot of it.

A few years ago I was on my way to pickup my Jeep from Blaine. It was July 3rd. I have 3 boys. The SUV in front of me also had 3 boys, 2 parents and an aunt. On the freeway, A tire blew out and the driver over corrected. The SUV ended up rolling maybe 15+ times. I don't think many were wearing seatbelts. The 3 children and their father were ejected. The oldest son appeared to be partially ejected and the SUV rolled on top of him and I believe he died on the scene. Luckily nobody else was killed. Just the shock of witnessing it had me shaken up. I got out and helped. The one kid that was killed still had a heartbeat when I helped get him out from under the SUV which was resting on his head. I was in touch with his parents and spoke with them on the phone shortly after. So yeah, it's much different when you're actually there to witness it.

I have lots of stories of stuff I rolled up to as an EMT. Many of them worse than the above. Though I'll never forget what happened to that kid. I think he was 18 at the time. Me having 3 boys of my own really made it stand out.
 
I worked in the ER for 10 yrs. You do get numbed to people passing but you never do when it is a child. It will ruin the whole shift for everyone. CPR is not very effective. They have removed the mouth to mouth and recommend only compressions now. The machines are better because they give a better compression than most humans can give over time. AEDs are a God send and have a high rate of success for non blockage related heart attacks. Unfortunately most people who come across a situation like this panic and freeze up. Remember, the fist rule of CPR in the field is call 911.
 
Unfortunately most people who come across a situation like this panic and freeze up.

That's one of my biggest fears with a situation like that. WFR and SAR training will only do so much if I can't jump into action immediately. Do you have any advice to help mentally prepare yourself for a situation you'd have to render aid?
 
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That's one of my biggest fears with a situation like that. WFR and SAR training will only do so much if I can't jump into action immediately. Do you have any advice to help mentally prepare yourself for a situation you'd have to render aid?

First off, I'd like to say that I have tremendous respect for all first responders including those who posted above. @bucky
@suicideking
@mxz800

I am an M.D.
The first responders are such a huge asset to society. Those men and women literally save lives. I don't covet being the one to show up first.

With regard to preparing yourself....there is nothing like seeing those situations first hand...Ideally when you don't have primary responsibility for treatment. However, given that most people don't get to have that preparation.....the next best thing is to go through scenarios in your mind....down to every minute detail (the screams, moaning, panic, bystanders, blood, them looking you in the eyes ect). You want to garner the emotions of the situation. Then at a later time revisualize those situations again also trying to feel the emotion. It may be harder the second and third times to feel the anxiety (which is a good thing). When you see it in real life the emotion will be there but tampered down....allowing you to focus and be task oriented.
 
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First off, I'd like to say that I have tremendous respect for the first responders including those who posted above. @bucky
@suicideking
@mxz800

I am an M.D.
The first responders are such a huge asset to society. Those men and women literally save lives. I don't covet being the one to show up first.

With regard to preparing yourself....there is nothing like seeing those situations first hand...Ideally when you don't have primary responsibility for treatment. However, given that most people don't get to have that preparation.....the next best thing is to go through scenarios in your mind....down to every minute detail (the screams, moaning, panic, bystanders, blood, them looking you in the eyes ect). You want to garner the emotions of the situation. Then at a later time revisualize those situations again also trying to feel the emotion. It may be harder the second and third times to get feel the anxiety (which is a good thing). When you see it in real life the emotion will be there but tampered down....allowing you to focus and be task oriented.

I appreciate the response. Planning on going into SAR in the next year or so. Trying to mentally prepare myself for some of those calls has been tricky. Avy calls especially sound particularly intense. And of course any recoveries are gonna be hard to prepare for since they're all unique. Getting actual experience with wilderness medicine without being the one to provide aid is pretty hard though. I've done dozens of scenarios with my local SAR team and ran through even more in my head though. With how much I'm outdoors I'm bound to be put in a real situation eventually.
 
I worked in the ER for 10 yrs. You do get numbed to people passing but you never do when it is a child. It will ruin the whole shift for everyone.

You do get desensitized after seeing that kind of stuff all the time. Though every now and then you realize how bad it has become. I responded to this robbery in Bellflower where an armored guard was killed:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-30-me-30291-story.html

My partner and I were amazed by the scene. Think Pulp Fiction and the accidental gunshot that killed the guy in the back seat... We were talking about it on our way out of there with an empty gurney because it was now crime scene waiting for the coroner. We crossed right in front of the armored truck with his partner waiting in the driver seat. He saw the gurney was empty and immediately knew what was happening. So I'll never forget the sad look on his face. It brings you back to reality fast and points out how much you have been desensitized.

Keeping that story in mind, I moved on to doing IT work. At my first IT job (working for AT&T dial up support), I found out our security guard had accepted a position working for an armored guard company. Someone told him to talk to me about being an armored guard. I told him that story and he declined the position. One of the worst jobs I can think of. Possibly walking into an ambush every day.
 
The one lesson I learned during my 20+ yr career, first as a X-ray tech and then as a Radiation Therapist, is when I get to feeling sorry about myself for what ever reason there are hundreds of people who will change places with me. The second lesson is to enjoy and appreciate every single day on this earth.