I held a man's life in my arms today.

[Rick B.]

This is what happened to me not more than a few hours ago. I again warn you, this is extremely graphic and im still shook up about it.

 

I was going to autozone to look for door locks for the car i just got, it was a normal day, there was a little bit of traffic as i was going to one of the main roads through the part of town im in. turns out an accident just happened between a motorcycle and a minivan. people are just starting to crowd around it. Im jump out of my car and rush over to see if there was anyone hurt, its my responsibility. im a first responder, working on my emt certification. i get to the scene and there is a man from the motorcycle laying face down on the road not moving, with a stream of blood coming from underneath the helmet. there are people there taking pictures and not helping the man out. I yell at them to get away and an off duty highway patrol officer and I start working the scene. he and i both drop to our knees, he jumps on the phone calling for police and an ambulance, i check the mans pulse and i look down to his face, it was half hangin off the bone structure of his face. the man had a week pulse and spastic breathing. he was unconcious. body tissue was hangin off his face and protruding from his nostrils, blood was pouring out of his wounds. I start administering first aid, but i cant do much, i didnt have gloves or even bandages to help stop the bleeding. A police officer arrives on the scene, the Highway patrol officer leaves us to start taking statements. The PD officer and I pull out the guys wallet for identification and i suggest to use the man's cell phone to contact his family. He says thats a good idea and i pull out the man's cell phone and flip it open to search for an appropriate number to call. right there on the main screen of the phone is a picture of two children. I go through the phonebook of his phone and find his house phone number immediately. a kid picks up the phone and says "hello" before an adult takes the phone away and starts talking to me like im the guy that im trying to help. I interrupt him and say, "excuse me sir, my name is Richard Bolander, Im calling from this mans cell phone, he has been in a motorcycle accident and is being taken to the hospital, he will be flown to another hospital an hour away," the guy on the phone says thankyou and hangs up. Meanwhile, the paramedics arrive on the scene and i get back down by the man to aid them. i hold his head in my lap as they start cutting away his jacket and helmet. the man wakes up and trys to stand. we all start yelling for him to stay still and we hold him to the ground to keep him from moving so he doesnt injure himself more. i start talking to him trying to get him to tell me his name and I tell him things to relax him. he fades in and out of conciousness. we cut the jacket off of him and then removed the helmet. there was serious tissue damage to the face, everytime he gasped a breath, the facial tissue would move on its own away from the facial structure. half of his face was peeled away. we cut the clothes off of him and roll him onto a stretcher then the paramedics push him into the ambulance and leave. I then go over to the driver of the van who happens to be a 78 year old woman. i hold her hand and take her off to the side and calm her. she was crying into my shoulder and calling out to god, praying that the man lives. i stood with her, holding her hand for several hours, im not sure for how long exactly, but it was still daylight out when i started and well past dark when i left. I waited with her, comforting her, trying to keep her away from the scene so she wouldnt see the blood or the damage to the motorcycle. i helped her talk to the police when she was giving her statement to help get all of the details of what happened to the officer since the poor lady was too shook up and tramatized to remember much of the accident. A rep from the police department came that was a volunteer for trama treatment. basically a person that calms down someone who has been in a tramatic experience, pretty much what i was doing for the lady, this was several hours after the accident. the rep and i stayed with the woman until her husband arrived with their neighbors. the police sgt that was at the scene pulled me aside and took down my information, and thanked me. several of the officers shook my hand and thanked me gratefully for helping out since they were shorthanded. they all shook my hand and several of them told me to join the police department because i would make a good officer. I told them I would love to, knowing that in fact there was no chance i would be accepted because of my history. The police sgt took me aside again and said thankyou once more, especially for staying to calm the woman, i said it wasnt a big deal, and he told me this, " it is a big deal, if you look over there, you see all of those people in their cars just looking and staring at whats happening and not doing anything about it. you actually got out of your car to help and that says alot about your character. youre a good person. By the way, do you have any road flares in your car?" i told him that i didnt and he took me over to the police SUV and handed me several large road flares and told me that if i ever come upon an accident again to use them and help out again if i could. he said thankyou, shook my hand again, and patted me on the back as i walked towards my car. several of the officers nodded their heads towards me in approvement. then i drove away.

 

I went to ariels house since my roomate wasnt home and i started crying on the way there, and i cried while i was talking to ariel and explaining what had happened. I didnt cry because of what i saw, I cried because those children in the picture on his phone almost lost their dad that day, and how much pain that man had and will suffer, and i cried about how bad that older woman must have felt, and it gives me tears now remembering it, typing it on this computer. She was so afraid that the man was going to die. I kept telling her that i saw the wounds and that they werent as bad as they seemed, that the most of the damage would result in a concussion, but deep inside, especially when i was holding that man's head in my lap, i was afraid he would pass. but we were able to have him regain conciousness and speak a few words and it gave us all hope at the scene. it eventually came over the radio that the man was in stable condition and i passed the news on to the older lady who drove the van, she immediately broke down crying and thanking god. im not a religious person myself, but i did witness a miracle today, and i feel like i took part in it. we all underestimate the job of a police officer or a paramedic, and today i have a new found respect for them.

 

we figured out how the accident occured and this is what we discovered. The van was in a left side turn lane. there was an oncoming car in an opposing lane directly across the median where the van would turn. the older lady driving the van judged that she had enough room to make her left hand turn since there was no traffic light at this part of the road. she began her turn just a motorcycle popped out from behind the car to pass it since it was slowing for the turning van. the driver of the motorcycle accelerates not knowing that there is a van just beyond the car. the motorcycle slams into the sliding door of the van spinning it sideways and throwing the motorcyclist several feet away. I arrived on the scene no later than a minute of the accident.

 

This is what happened today, and i am thankful for the life i have, because just like this man i cared for, we all never know when i can end.

 

The older lady asked me why i would want such a job as an EMT to see the horrible things that happen to people. I told her simply that i wanted to help people that were in those situations. she immediately apologized for asking such a stupid question. I told her it wasnt stupid, its just her wondering why some people choose to do some of the things they do.

 

edit: dont know why i posted this. i need someone to talk to. figured i could talk to you guys. i definitely wasnt expecting this to happen today. i guess life throws everyone their own little surprises every now and then. il stop ranting now.

[sohcVTEC-E]

Holy cow man. Thats insane. You're a strong guy bolander. I know I would have just gawked for a minute and then kept on driving by... Just reading that made me tear up. You'll have to deal with that though when you're an EMT most likely. Like you'll get a guy who has a gun shot wound or something that's concious in the ambulance talking about his family and then he dies in the ER or something. Just an example... I know there's probably a lot of variables and what not. Anyways you are still awesome in my book for that man.

[Attaus]

Wow. You probably saved that man's life.

 

It's good to know that there are still people like you out there.

 

You wonder why you started getting upset, but I felt really sad too when I you talked about him having 2 kids.. I couldn't imagine having to break that to them. You really did do him, his family, and even that woman a great service.

[Rick B.]

it was an indescribible day. right now i feel kinda of cut off from reality, its kind of a numb feeling. today just keeps playing itself over and over in my head. i tear up every once and awhile. i keep thinking about those kids. jeeez.

im sipping on a smirnoff ice right now, i know, its a girly drink, but ya know what. it tastes good and its all i got at the moment.

 

thankyou for your guys' support. i really appreciate it. i really do.

[HONDA CRX 88 SI]

jeez bro

 

ur real hero in my book bro.

[Rick B.]

thankyou.

[BuddySol]

Hey bud...good job! It's always good to know there is a good samaritan out there. It's tough when coming across these situations, but you handled yourself in a professional manner.

 

I always tell my guards, it's our responsibility to help people out when in trouble. When we come across seizures, drownings, or any life threatening event, what we learned will come through and save a person's life. It's always the aftermath that'll get to them, but I always reassure them that they did their best and that's all that person who is hurt can ask for.

 

Now, is the time to do whatever it is that makes you unwind and deal with the emotions. So drink your smirnoff and speak your mind...you just helped someone in hope they will see their kids again. KUDOS!

[Rick B.]

thankyou. here is a link to one online article about what happened. it doesnt go into much detail, but its there.

clicky

 

edit: guards? i used to work security until my old roomate told them i was on probation and got me fired. it was a fun job.

paid well too. good benefits.

[BuddySol]

guards...as in lifeguards...i was a guard, but now i push papers and make the guards work. haahhaha.

[Rick B.]

oh ok. lol. i guess i should have realized when you said drowning . lol

eh, im blonde, and its 3am. im goin to bed.

[sonnyjc3]

oh ok. lol. i guess i should have realized when you said drowning . lol

eh, im blonde, and its 3am. im goin to bed.

good night rick. and i hope your okay. this was a very sad story and i hope that you feel better. life is soo precious. i cant imagine being in a situation like that. mad props to you sir.

[rapperbasher]

wow brah that's crazyyyyyy idk what i would do in a situation like that because im a pretty kind hearted person i cant just see a person suffering and just walk by but i dont know all to much about the whole saving people thing i woulda been good at calming down the old lady though im pretty good at that kinda stuff

[airjordan223]

woah man thats insane. you kick some serious ass just to let you know.

 

rbolander for mod

[xxscaxx]

good job man. not a lot of people have courage like that.

 

 

i dont mean to like offend you, but when you lifted the man up to cut his jacket and stuff off, were you instructed by other emt members to do so? b/c i know you should never move someone incase they have some sort of neck injury b/c you dont want to to hurt them more. something i was just wondering. again, not tryin to say you did something wrong i was just curious.

[Rick B.]

the reason why people tell you not to move the victim unless they are in a life threatening situation is because most people dont know the proper way to move a person to immobilize the spine so no further injury can occur. ive been taking emt classes working on my certification so ive been trained on the proper movements. at the time we were cutting off the jacket, there were only two emts there and myselft. they accepted my help. we had to lift him to cut off the jacket that way we could place a neck brace on his neck before we rolled him onto the stretcher.

[Kegger]

Welcome to the fun, crazy, hectic, and emotional world of emergency medical technicians Rick... I've been a first responder for three years, and a combat medic and Emt for a year.

 

Believe me, it never gets any easier to deal with what you see. Especially when it comes to peds. Just hope you never have to deal with peds. That is the worst thing to have to work on an injured kid and not know if they are going to survive.

 

But I'm proud that you dealt with it the way you did and just know that people say talking about it helps and sometimes it does. But there are lots of people out there that don't understand what we do and why we do it and its better to never say a word to them about it. And a lot of the times you'll just have to deal with it on your own.

 

But be strong dude...

[Rick B.]

i completely agree with you man. to other people, words are just words, it doesnt really affect them. the words never live up to the actual experience. its one thing to read about it, and its completely different to actually experience it. im going to bust my ass and hurry up and get my certification. i want to help people.

[90IntegraC1]

You are an incredible person for doing this, seriously.

 

I don't know if you saw this, but here is a comment from the article you posted:

 

Ariel wrote on December 02, 2006 9:32 AM:"What about the fact that one of the first few people on the scene was a civilian named Rick , that pretty much helped save the guy's life until paramedics arrived?"

 

look at that, Rick is a true hero. That's awesome man!

 

I hope the guy on the motorcycle is gonna make it, thoughts and prayers are with him.

[wannaBstuntin]

As you were describing that, I felt as if I was watching a movie, but at the same time, I knew that it really happened. I am not ashamed to say that I had a few tears while reading this. I also prayed for this man, and I can only imagine being somehow involved in this whether as a bystander, the lady in the minivan, or a family member or friend of the man, or even as a brave hero such as you. I do not believe I could do what you did, and that is why I am thankful that there are people like you who can.o:)

[Rick B.]

thankyou guys, it really means alot to me. the scene keeps replaying itself over and over in my head, i keep asking myself if i could have done something different. but the man is in stable condition at the hospital. im planning on going to visit him tomorrow if i can to check up on him.

[90IntegraC1]

did you see what the lady wrote in a comment below the article?

[IL3GL'88]

You are an incredible person for doing this, seriously.

 

I don't know if you saw this, but here is a comment from the article you posted:

 

 

 

look at that, Rick is a true hero. That's awesome man!

 

I hope the guy on the motorcycle is gonna make it, thoughts and prayers are with him.

 

ah man. ok so i read this whole thread thnkin stuff like, "holy crap dude bolanders like damn". I read his link and saw the same exact quote and i'm like, "man I wonder if hes seen this yet". so I was thinkin of posting it up here and i get down to the bottom and the last comment is exactly what I wanted to say. dont u hate that. Oh well I'm glad someone said it atleast. Good job bolander.

[Rick B.]

i saw the comment. i wish i could just say that i did what anyone else would have done, that it wasnt a big deal, but the truth is, everybody else just stood around and stared at the guy. i mean, people were getting down on there knees with their camera phones taking pictures of his face up close, and yet they wouldnt do anything to help the man that was unconcious, on the ground, struggling to breathe through all of the blood coming out. i just think to myself, what if i had taken a different route that day? nobody would have helped him until it was possibly too late. it just makes me sick to my stomach, i mean something could happen to me to where i would be helpless to do anything, and thinking that instead of someone trying to help me, they will just be there to gawk and take a picture. because of that, i want to help people. i dont want to have people too helpless to do anything and have no one there for them. its just awful.

[GsrCrx]

i mean, people were getting down on there knees with their camera phones taking pictures of his face up close, and yet they would do anything to help the man that was unconcious, on the ground, struggling to breathe through all of the blood coming out.

 

Wow...

[Rick B.]

Wow...

 

exactly :(