Lucky Squid

[brynndragon]

I was riding home from my bi-weekly weigh-in for science and another biker passed me to the left. It's an Icon squid, wearing a full-face helmet of said brand, a shirt, jeans, and a some chucks. As I passed through the first of the Double Donuts of Doom I noticed the traffic looks pretty bad so I opt to cut through Fresh Pond Mall. Apparently the Icon squid did the same thing - as I came around the corner of the place Wellspace used to be, I saw a bike on the ground. He was on the ground somewhat nearby, having already taken off his helmet, examining his knee.

I parked the bike and headed over to where he was sitting to look over the damage. It wasn't bleeding much, just a bit welling up around the edges of a patch the size of a quarter, but where there wasn't blood all I saw was white. This could not be a good thing - I haven't seen as many cadavers as a medical doctor in training would, but my best guess was I was looking right at the patellar tendon. Despite that his landing was certainly fairly good - there was no gravel that would need scrubbing out, and I wiped off what little dirt there was in the area with an alcohol pad (note to self: make some sort of first aid kid to stash in your bag). A little further down his leg was a similar scrape, also bleeding minimally but also looking like maybe a bit of white was showing (possibly the He also cut his hand, which was bleeding a bit more than the leg (a lady who was even less clueful about what to do than me was exclaiming about the blood on his face, which fairly obviously came from that hand cut).

He and the cager involved (not having seen it I have no idea who hit whom) got his bike off the ground. One of the mirrors broke off, as did the frame slider and the left faring was cracked as well as a side cover that sticks out from the faring (I don't know what kind of bike it was, other than "sports bike" - it was flat black with no branding on it). He didn't want an ambulance so I just told him to make sure it got looked at, knowing full well the cops would bring at least an ambulance with them no matter what he said. I tried to corral him a bit, it was clear he wanted to walk off the adrenalin but with that wound I didn't think that was wise. He apologized for being an asshole, even though all things considered he was extremely well-behaved. I left as one cop cruiser, one ambulance, and one fire truck made their appearance, since I knew at that point I'd have nothing to contribute (not being a witness and the guy not needing emotional support or anything).

I don't know if I helped any, but at least I didn't do any harm. I managed to stay calm and keep things together a bit more than they would have been if I hadn't been around; things certainly would have been fine without me, but I had to do something. First Aid training is all well and good, but I think what I really want is training in what the fuck to do when you're first one the scene. They went over that a little bit in First Aid, but I want something more focused, I guess.

Comments

[dphilli1.livejournal.com]

about first aid kits--the stuff in the commerical first aid kits they sell in "outdoor store" is largely useless for anything more serious than blisters/splinters. The best part of them is the container. You've got the space on your bike, so start with a consumer grade containter, and fill it with stuff that is acutally useful for bike trama/MVA -- sam splint, trama bandage (can use maxipads and tampons if you don't want to buy one), the rapid clot stuff, lots of rubber gloves, burn stuff road rash stuff, etc etc.

you prob know better than I what bike accidents look like, so go with that.

[aerynne.livejournal.com]

I think there was a post at Making Light about what to when you're the first on the scene, but I can't locate it. It sounds like it was an exciting time.

[dphilli1.livejournal.com]

about what to do when you're the first on the scene --
you should think about getting some first responder training. Unfortunately, the only FR training most people can get is if they're public safety (police/fire/security).

If you're willing to pay for it (~$500), and commit to 10days, you can get a Wilderness FR cert through SOLO -- its focused on backcountry emergencies, but a lot of the training is still applicable. I've got one, and it came in more or less useful when I totalled my car -- mostly to make sure I was ok before I moved around too much.

Overall, it sounds like you did the right stuff, except I would have insisted that advanced care take a look at it -- you were 5-10min from Mt. Auburn...
first thing they beat into us for at Wilderness First Responder --SCENE SAFETY!!!!!!!!

[c1.livejournal.com]

If you want to meet up for lunch sometime, I can walk you through some basic things to do/not do.