Saw Someone Hit by a Car Today

[Greenday]

Today was possibly my last last day at my job. (It's kinda like an internship. I only work during summer breaks and winter breaks.) Because it's New Year's Eve, we were given a 2-hour early work release. That'd be 2pm for me. 1:30pm rolled around and I was able to leave then instead. Hit up the bathroom and was on my way. Driving around some buildings to take the backstreets home instead of a major highway, I was cruising at 15 mph, the speed limit on one of the side streets of the base, I saw some car parked near the curb. Thinking someone was just waiting for a friend to come out of the building right next to her, I was about to go around when I saw a body on the ground.

I immediately pulled over and ran over to the woman on the ground and the two people helping her. One was on the phone with 911 and told me she hit the woman and to get help. I ran back to my car and drove off to the nearest gate. I pulled over and ran to the hut with guards in it and explained what I saw. They called the ambulances on the base and thanked me.

I decided I couldn't just go home so I turned my car around and went back to make sure everything was ok. Finally the ambulance got there along with some MPs and fire trucks to block off the street. I was just frozen, standing there. She was barely conscious and I couldn't understand a word she said. She was just laying there, face down, with a large pool of blood around her head. The EMTs finally got her on a stretched, bandaged her head, and put her in the ambulance. But the blood was just pooled there. A weird sickly orangy-red color. I went back to my car and just sat there. I couldn't react. Finally, the MP in charge came up to me and asked what I saw. I explained everything that happened and he took down my information, then had people move the MPs cars so I could get home.

Still, I can't get the sight of her laying there in a pool of blood out of my head. It's so vivid. Easily the worst, most disgusting thing I've ever seen. I need another beer.

[BookstoreEscapee]

That's tough. I hope she's OK.

You take it easy..

[ditchdj]

Still, I can't get the sight of her laying there in a pool of blood out of my head. It's so vivid. Easily the worst, most disgusting thing I've ever seen. I need another beer.

I know. I've seen crazy shit like that many times during my lifetime. It's like you have to come up with your OWN way to deal with it and put it in the back of your mind as far as you can because you can't voluntarily erase memories.

But it's really good to see that the person that hit her DID stop. That's because I've read so many cases of hit-and-run reports in the local papers here.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Been there, done that, unfortunately. Only it wasn't quite somebody getting run over.

This was years ago. I was getting lunch at Hardees (now the Chinese place I go to frequently). It faces the main drag in front of the swamp. On the other side of the main drag is a grocery store. There's a road connecting the grocery store and the swamp, but it doesn't have a name.

Anyhow, here comes a Ford Bronco (a big one, not the smaller Bronco II) from the grocery store to the swamp. And now here's some guy on a crotch rocket on the main drag, doing at least a good 50 miles an hour, and he crashes right into the passenger side of the Bronco. Hard enough to tip the Bronco onto its side.

I forget my lunch and book it out of the drive thru and run up to see if I can help. The guy who was on the crotch rocket is flat on the ground in a pool of blood. He also isn't wearing a helmet, or if he was, it came off in the crash.

I never did find out what happened to the guy, but I'll be shocked if he survived. The impact looked pretty well unsurvivable to me.

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I was 13, we were on our way home between my cousin's wedding and the reception (it was in town, and we had time to kill), and some guy on a bike came off the sidewalk without looking; my dad slammed on the brakes but caught the guy's back wheel. There were people across the street who saw it happen, and someone came and put a small pillow under the guy's head while we waited for the ambulance. I still remember the blood soaked into it.

My mom called the hospital the next day and asked about him; they said he had been released so I guess he was OK.

[Amina516]

Sorry GD. Things like that can be hard. I used to deal with that stuff on an almost daily basis...it takes almost detaching yourself from the person and thinking of them strictly on a professional/job to be able to make it through sometimes. Im sure your help was appreciated. Thank you for stopping.

[jedimaster91]

Several years ago in <Jedi's town>, a suspect was fleeing police in a stolen car and hit two little girls who were crossing the street on their way to swim practice. The news reports said he was going in excess of 50mph and hit the girls so hard that both died on impact and one of them was missing a leg when all was said and done. The guy was recently convicted of several charges, including two for murder. He never even stopped.

[Rapscallion]

How are you doing, Greenday?

Rapscallion

[Greenday]

Eh, it's still bothering me, the thought of her just laying there in her blood. I've never had such a vivid memory.

[Soulstealer]

Eh, it's still bothering me, the thought of her just laying there in her blood. I've never had such a vivid memory.

That's because you're a good person and it'll probably be with you for a while. If you want to talk about it plenty of us can probably commiserate on our own experiences if we're up to it and give advise. It'll take time for the shock to wear off and for the memory to fade.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Eh, it's still bothering me, the thought of her just laying there in her blood. I've never had such a vivid memory.

It'll fade with time.

Do you have any way of finding out what happened to her?

[Greenday]

Probably not. I don't know who it was. And since I'm done working for the winter and I'm using some of my travel comp. time next week, I'm not really inclined to go to work since I won't be getting paid to do so. And I don't know if I can get any information cause of patient privacy and all.

[NorthernZel]

Probably not. I don't know who it was. And since I'm done working for the winter and I'm using some of my travel comp. time next week, I'm not really inclined to go to work since I won't be getting paid to do so. And I don't know if I can get any information cause of patient privacy and all.

You could try, if you feel that it would set your mind at ease.

Albeit it was nowhere near that serious, I and my husband once had to do basic first-aid on a bloke that fell on his bike and hit his head seriously. We made sure to park and lock his bike (his bike had a combination lock so no key was needed), and before the ambulance took off with him we asked them which ER they'd take him to.

After we got home, we called the ER, told them that we had assisted one of their new patients with a head injury at so-and-so hours, and just wanted to pass on the message that his bike was parked at so-and-so street so he could retrieve it once he'd got out of hospital. The ER thanked for the message, and could also tell us that he'd recover. No personal info was exchanged, so no breach of privacy was made.

[Seshat]

Greenday,

Contact the MPs and/or the hospital, and tell them that if the patient/patient's family is willing for that info to be released, you'd like to know if she's okay.
You can also give permission for them to pass on your info to the patient/family, if you wish.

If you're a member of a church whose ministry is trained in counselling/support, or otherwise have access to a counsellor, that can help you handle incidents like this.

If you have a friend or family member in a medical, paramedical, first aid, or first responder field, talking with them can help.

But the biggest thing to remember is this: you encountered an emergency. You acted. Even better, you acted correctly and appropriately.
That makes you special.
Most people blank or stall in an emergency. You didn't.
Of those who act, many act incorrectly. You didn't.

If you don't already have it, I strongly suggest you take first aid training, possibly general emergency response training. Both for your own sake, and to increase the pool of people in this world who act correctly in emergencies AND know what to do.

Why for your own sake? Because it'll help reassure you that you acted correctly, and it'll give you confidence should you encounter another emergency situation in the future.

[Amina516]

But the biggest thing to remember is this: you encountered an emergency. You acted. Even better, you acted correctly and appropriately.
That makes you special.
Most people blank or stall in an emergency. You didn't.
Of those who act, many act incorrectly. You didn't.
.

Ditto.

I hope you feel better.