Undertakers
There are some jobs that, as soon as you read the details on the datascreen you think, 'This is going to probably be a serious one.'
Yesterday afternoon we got a call to inform us that a motorcyclist had collided with the central reservation on the motorway.
One thing we are taught in training school and when we first start the job in the real world is NEVER to radio diagnose. For those of you not in the emergency services, we receive basic details on a screen in the vehicle which is updated while on route to the patient.
However, the words 'Motorcylist' and 'Central Reservation', when put together in the same sentence do have serious connotations.
We arrived on scene within 5 minutes.
Rather than being confronted with the sight of mangled wreckage and mangled biker we could see six motorcyclists on the hard shoulder engaging in a conversation with the local motorway police.
One biker was holding his wrist, it didn't looked like his hand was about to drop off. When I asked how fast he had been travelling at the time of the crash he said, 'No more than 50mph.' Being within earshot of the policeman, what he was saying and what he was meaning to say were two separate things, I thought.
Within the safe confines of the ambulance and away from the ears of the policeman I asked the same question again. 'It was into three figures!' was the reply this time.
Now, the reason why us ambulance folk ask questions about such things as impact speed is very important. It's called kinematics - the study of physical factors affecting injuries involving velocity.
To be involved in an accident when you are a motorcyclist travelling in excess of 100mph usually means that the police and ambulance crew will have to scrape up various parts of body tissue along a quarter mile stretch of road. Our patient seemed to be remarkably intact, all things considered.
A thorough examination revealed probable fractures to two metacarpals (wrist bones) and a pain in the centre of the back. The man needed to be taken to hospital for a more thorough check-up. He refused to go.
In our job, if a patient says that they don't want to go to hospital we have to respect their wishes, even though we will strongly recommend that they follow our advice. Our biker friend was having none of it. Being built bigger and stronger than me, I wasn't going to argue the point.
But I knew a man who would.
We described our predicament to the motorway policeman. He was even bigger than the biker. Size doesn't always count but it did at this precise moment on the hard shoulder of a very busy motorway.
"Just f**k off to hospital, or I'll book you!" he bellowed above the noise of the traffic. The big, burly biker did as he was told, much to the amusement of my colleague and myself. It's funny how the traffic police never speak to the public like this when they are being filmed for documentaries, I mused!
Fifteen minutes later, the nurses had the big burly biker eating out of their hands (metaphorically speaking) and we departed for the next job...
Yesterday afternoon we got a call to inform us that a motorcyclist had collided with the central reservation on the motorway.
One thing we are taught in training school and when we first start the job in the real world is NEVER to radio diagnose. For those of you not in the emergency services, we receive basic details on a screen in the vehicle which is updated while on route to the patient.
However, the words 'Motorcylist' and 'Central Reservation', when put together in the same sentence do have serious connotations.
We arrived on scene within 5 minutes.
Rather than being confronted with the sight of mangled wreckage and mangled biker we could see six motorcyclists on the hard shoulder engaging in a conversation with the local motorway police.
One biker was holding his wrist, it didn't looked like his hand was about to drop off. When I asked how fast he had been travelling at the time of the crash he said, 'No more than 50mph.' Being within earshot of the policeman, what he was saying and what he was meaning to say were two separate things, I thought.
Within the safe confines of the ambulance and away from the ears of the policeman I asked the same question again. 'It was into three figures!' was the reply this time.
Now, the reason why us ambulance folk ask questions about such things as impact speed is very important. It's called kinematics - the study of physical factors affecting injuries involving velocity.
To be involved in an accident when you are a motorcyclist travelling in excess of 100mph usually means that the police and ambulance crew will have to scrape up various parts of body tissue along a quarter mile stretch of road. Our patient seemed to be remarkably intact, all things considered.
A thorough examination revealed probable fractures to two metacarpals (wrist bones) and a pain in the centre of the back. The man needed to be taken to hospital for a more thorough check-up. He refused to go.
In our job, if a patient says that they don't want to go to hospital we have to respect their wishes, even though we will strongly recommend that they follow our advice. Our biker friend was having none of it. Being built bigger and stronger than me, I wasn't going to argue the point.
But I knew a man who would.
We described our predicament to the motorway policeman. He was even bigger than the biker. Size doesn't always count but it did at this precise moment on the hard shoulder of a very busy motorway.
"Just f**k off to hospital, or I'll book you!" he bellowed above the noise of the traffic. The big, burly biker did as he was told, much to the amusement of my colleague and myself. It's funny how the traffic police never speak to the public like this when they are being filmed for documentaries, I mused!
Fifteen minutes later, the nurses had the big burly biker eating out of their hands (metaphorically speaking) and we departed for the next job...
posted by PikeNovice at
9:45 AM
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