witness to an accident

Ok, so I wasn't exactly witness to the accident, but I was the first to stop and offer help. Which, by the way, upset me very much.



I was running late for work because I had to wait until 8:30 when the Post Office opened up. Traveling westbound on 394, I noticed that traffic was much too slow for 9:00am. When I came upon the scene, the first thing I noticed was the truck driving practically crawling away from the semi. Then next thing I noticed was that no one had stopped to offer help! I hadn't actually seen what had happened, but if traffic had been blocked to slow my path down, then there was ample space between the time of the accident and the time of my arrival. The was a very disturbing thought, and still is.



Though I could offer no formal aid, the fact that I had stopped, could lend a blanket to the victim and offer a hug to the woman who knew what to do made me feel less useless. I knew very well what needed to be done:



1) Call 911 (Check)

2) Check the scene for any endangering elements (gas leak from a quarter size hole in the tank)

3) Check the victim for consciousness & apparent injuries (someone else had pulled up and got to him first since I had to cross the road)

4) Keep the victim covered due to shock (BLANKET!)

5) Keep the victim talking until the professionals arrived (not my finest quality)



I was most disappointed in myself for the fact that I am not one to start up conversations when strangers, so I really didn't know what to say to him. Plus, there were 3 others that had stopped and seemed to know what to do. I think because of this incident, I will be looking into getting CPR & First Aid certified for next time. I was informally trained when I was an RA in college, but it has been almost 3 years since my last class on safety that I am quite rusty. If anyone has any suggestions as to where to look for such classes, please let me know. I've checked out the Red Cross website, but I'd like a few options.



~ steph