Have you ever responded to a emergency/accident while off duty?

2014-08-18T23:00:12-04:00

While at home today I heard a loud noise. Being how I live in the sticks any loud noise is out of the norm. I looked out the window and saw a plume of dust. I couldn't see what it was from. I put on my shoes and ran out there. It turns out that they ran off the road and hit two brick pillars from someone's driveway. They were able to escape with no evident injuries. So that made my day a bit more interesting.

Have you acted when the situation called? Did your training kick in and react to what you saw or heard?

Response by SSG Robert Burns made Aug 18 at 2014 11:03 PM

2014-08-18T23:03:20-04:00

Of course I carry my aid bag and tourniquets in all my vehicles. It seems like every time I go on leave we witness an accident. The worse I ever saw was driving from Colorado Springs to Durango when we saw a vehicle lose control and go into the river. Both passengers were ejected into the freezing water. We got them out and they both lived. I always stop because I hope someone will stop for me if even I need it.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2014 12:08 AM

2014-08-19T00:08:23-04:00

Taking a little trip on 95 once.....saw a van do a flip and watched everything fly. Of cours I was behind them and stopped. Large famliy, lots of injuries. Took a deep breath, grabbed the bag in the back and waded in. Triage was painful - almost overwhelmed me til I looked up and saw about 30 people watching me triage and do my best with a family of 9. THAT'S when I took serious charge.....got 4 guys to do traffic control. Had another re-call 911 with specific instructions for life flight and set up a road block with 8 other guys so life flight could land. About 40 minutes into the situation I heard the chopper....pilot had to be ex-Navy....landed exactly where I wanted him despite the winds and power lines. Another 4 or 5 minutes and the cavalry finally showed up and some JackA$$ highway patrol walks up and starts issuing orders...til one of the guys helping me told him to go talk to me. Highway patrol kept telling me to do things that made no sense so I ignored him....until the battalion chief walked up and asked "who's in charge here?"..... I raised my hand. Bat Chief asks - "did you order life flight?" ... "Yep" I replied. "What else have you done while I was trying to get here?".....and the transfer of Incident Command commenced......

Tally: 7 injured - 2 critical. All survived. Highway 95 backup 31 miles. PO'd highway patrolman who gave me a ticket for failing to move my truck when ordered.

Response by SPC Randy Torgerson made Aug 19 at 2014 1:56 AM

2014-08-19T01:56:02-04:00

One time when I was off duty (as a police officer) I heard about an accident about 5 miles from my then current location in my POV, so I drove really fast to assist and a highway patrol pulled me over and wrote me a ticket...haha My training kicked in the next day when I had his supervisor in my office (at the sheriff station). Needless to say, the ticket was revoked. Thankfully nobody died at the accident.

Response by SGT Steve Oakes made Aug 19 at 2014 4:18 AM

2014-08-19T04:18:05-04:00

While in Germany a buddy and I were going to Frankfurt to hit the big PX.
We ran into one hell of a snow storm. Just as we decided it would be wise to turn around. We came upon an accident. Big rig vs VW rabbit head on. Luckily they were able to veer in different directions and only hit corner to corner. That was bad enough. Despite seat belts both the people in the Rabbit were badly hurt. The passenger had both her legs and her left arm broken. They hit on her side and her door was stuck. We left her in the car and treated for shock. The driver despite the seat belt had hit his head and was dazed and probably had a closed head injury. So we got him to sit down stay awake and kept him warm. He was roaming around when we got there. It is a wonder he did not get hit by a passing car. We stayed on site until the German Police and EMS got there briefed them as best we could and headed back to post. If I would have had any doubt about seat belts that night would have ended it. The seat belts undoubtedly saved both their lives that night!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2014 6:07 AM

2014-08-19T06:07:19-04:00

I was in a restaurant in Houston when a girl stood up choking. Did the Heimlich maneuver and cleared her throat. Got a standing ovation and my dinner paid for.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2014 10:41 AM

2014-08-19T10:41:58-04:00

While in my rack working in the oilfield offshore my roommate walked in and passed out. I climbed out of my rack and verified a pulse and checked for breathing. Pulse was weak and he was breathing on his on. I performed a sternal chest rub and when he was unresponsive I placed him into the casualty recovery position and called for the shipboard medic. Turns out he was in the middle of an ugly divorce and not eating. Last suspected word I received was hypoglycemia, But not having any medic training beyond CLS I have no opinion.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2015 1:51 PM

2015-02-19T13:51:50-05:00

There have been a number of times I've been off duty. Of course, being that I'm a nurse/former EMT, I will stop at any accident unless there are already emergency responders there.

One that I had was what appeared to be a minor accident on my way home from the hospital where I worked. I stopped, and this gal is super confused, doesn't know where she's at and walking in circles. I had her lay down, immobilized her head/neck and checked around. All others were "walking wounded" or bystanders doing just fine, but I verbally assessed them while holding her still.

Of course, when the FF showed up, the ParaGods immediately pissed me off. First, trying to get me to transfer C-Spine (no-no) to a "trained professional" (I'm in my effing scrubs with a stethoscope over my neck....what the hell do you think I am?). Then when I tried to give them the history, they cut me off and said "You did fine up 'til now. He's our patient. We'll do the history gathering."

I never heard what came about as to why she was not tracking on her surroundings, as the issue seemed fairly minor, and there were no signs of head trauma or any medications or things that I could see, and she didn't have any obvious signs of drug use.

Most of my accidents that I've responded to have been while on duty for the ambulance. A few times I've driven by and been glad that there were vehicles on scene, as the accident scene didn't look like one I'd like to jump in. I'm past those "adrenaline junky" days....
v/r,
CPT Butler