Car accident and lessons learned
May 18th I was going to pick my son up from school, just North kiddy corner of the school there was a head on collision on the 131 Highway. It happened just a few minutes before my arrival. There was a man driving North in the South bound 131 lane.
While on the school road I hollered down to the highway if they needed a first aid kit and someone said yes. I grabbed my medical kit and ran down there. Vehicle fluids were everywhere and it was slippery in areas. I asked if anybody had medical training and a guy pointed to the car and said he does. I walked over to the car and the first responder was doing C Spine essentially that is holding the head still to avoid any further spinal damage. I also noticed a lady talking to him asking what his name is, who she could call, what his wife's name was and phone number. The guy was in shock and from what I could tell could not answer properly. He looked to be in his 60's. I asked the responder if bandages were needed and he shook his head no. I did see some minor blood that was streaked down the guys face but nothing serious.
I then walked over to the other car. It looked like it was in the machine that crushes cars for the junk yard. First I saw the other guys arm just laying outward kind of like on the dash but hanging outwards. There was no movement. I got an instant eerie feeling of death that washed over me. I observed for a couple of seconds.
I stepped back and saw a guy I used to be a correction officer with. We talked a few moments and he said that he was driving along side the car with the living person (he was passing) and then the other car came and they collided.
I then left to get my son from school. As I reached my truck the first state trooper arrived on scene and then I took the photos with my phone. After I picked my son up the volunteer fire departments were on scene and the Osceola County Ambulance was rendering aid.
Lessons learned:
Always don protective gear ASAP. I had a bag of Nitrile gloves I was carrying with the medical kit and I should of donned the gloves enroute to the wreckage.
Always check the whole scene for safety even if other people are around. While you are rendering aid or doing other business keep checking the scene for safety. I slipped on motor oil on the pavement and almost fell after talking to the first responder.
Regardless of feelings or hunches follow your training to the best of your ability and don't assume nothing. I didn't check vitals on the presumed dead guy and I feel kind of ****** about it. For the next couple of days after the accident I felt kind of guilty I guess you could say. I know nothing could be done for the guy but what bugged me is I did not follow all of my training like I should have. Its been probably 17 years that I have been an actual Medic, still in the military just not as a medic and I have gotten rusty on a lot of stuff but the basics are not easily forgotten. This is the second time that I have responded to a dead human and this time when I got that eerie feeling of death it threw me off.
The medical kit that I had in my truck was just a basic military vehicle kit in a plastic box with field dressings and some other bandages. I swapped it out with a combat lifesaver trifold bag. Its a bigger kit with better supplies like Israeli bandages, TK4 tourniquet, Sam Splint, Quickclot, Mylar blanket, wound wash, instant ice pack, boo boo bandages, antibiotic ointment, Sawyer Extractor and some other stuff I cant remember.
If I would have had a Mylar blanket it probably would have helped the guy in the car accident. He was suffering from shock pretty bad and from internal injuries. I was impressed with his Jeep. The front absorbed the impact but still had a little shape and there were airbags everywhere in the inside.
They took the injured guy to the Reed city hospital and then flew him to Grand Rapids. He died later that night.
May 18th I was going to pick my son up from school, just North kiddy corner of the school there was a head on collision on the 131 Highway. It happened just a few minutes before my arrival. There was a man driving North in the South bound 131 lane.
While on the school road I hollered down to the highway if they needed a first aid kit and someone said yes. I grabbed my medical kit and ran down there. Vehicle fluids were everywhere and it was slippery in areas. I asked if anybody had medical training and a guy pointed to the car and said he does. I walked over to the car and the first responder was doing C Spine essentially that is holding the head still to avoid any further spinal damage. I also noticed a lady talking to him asking what his name is, who she could call, what his wife's name was and phone number. The guy was in shock and from what I could tell could not answer properly. He looked to be in his 60's. I asked the responder if bandages were needed and he shook his head no. I did see some minor blood that was streaked down the guys face but nothing serious.
I then walked over to the other car. It looked like it was in the machine that crushes cars for the junk yard. First I saw the other guys arm just laying outward kind of like on the dash but hanging outwards. There was no movement. I got an instant eerie feeling of death that washed over me. I observed for a couple of seconds.
I stepped back and saw a guy I used to be a correction officer with. We talked a few moments and he said that he was driving along side the car with the living person (he was passing) and then the other car came and they collided.
I then left to get my son from school. As I reached my truck the first state trooper arrived on scene and then I took the photos with my phone. After I picked my son up the volunteer fire departments were on scene and the Osceola County Ambulance was rendering aid.
Lessons learned:
Always don protective gear ASAP. I had a bag of Nitrile gloves I was carrying with the medical kit and I should of donned the gloves enroute to the wreckage.
Always check the whole scene for safety even if other people are around. While you are rendering aid or doing other business keep checking the scene for safety. I slipped on motor oil on the pavement and almost fell after talking to the first responder.
Regardless of feelings or hunches follow your training to the best of your ability and don't assume nothing. I didn't check vitals on the presumed dead guy and I feel kind of ****** about it. For the next couple of days after the accident I felt kind of guilty I guess you could say. I know nothing could be done for the guy but what bugged me is I did not follow all of my training like I should have. Its been probably 17 years that I have been an actual Medic, still in the military just not as a medic and I have gotten rusty on a lot of stuff but the basics are not easily forgotten. This is the second time that I have responded to a dead human and this time when I got that eerie feeling of death it threw me off.
The medical kit that I had in my truck was just a basic military vehicle kit in a plastic box with field dressings and some other bandages. I swapped it out with a combat lifesaver trifold bag. Its a bigger kit with better supplies like Israeli bandages, TK4 tourniquet, Sam Splint, Quickclot, Mylar blanket, wound wash, instant ice pack, boo boo bandages, antibiotic ointment, Sawyer Extractor and some other stuff I cant remember.
If I would have had a Mylar blanket it probably would have helped the guy in the car accident. He was suffering from shock pretty bad and from internal injuries. I was impressed with his Jeep. The front absorbed the impact but still had a little shape and there were airbags everywhere in the inside.
They took the injured guy to the Reed city hospital and then flew him to Grand Rapids. He died later that night.
