Saw a BAD accident tonight.

[asdf2231]

What was frustrating is that even with first aid training and equipment, there is always so damn little you can do.

Every single time I have rendered aid to an accident victim it has been a matter of holding someone still or holding someones hand until help arrives.

You just feel kind of useless and helpless is all. 

[Wineslob]

What was frustrating is that even with first aid training and equipment, there is always so damn little you can do.

Every single time I have rendered aid to an accident victim it has been a matter of holding someone still or holding someones hand until help arrives.

You just feel kind of useless and helpless is all. 

Watch the PTSD. I you need to "talk" do so. Trust me, I know.

[Chris_]

And then folks, you have the EXCEEDINGLY RARE few who will walk away from an accident like that, though it becomes their "Come to Jesus" moment.

Buddy of mine grew up south of Salt Lake City.  21 years old, he got himself a beautiful green Kawasaki Ninja, back when they first came out with the model.  Had the bike 3 days, decided to take it for a spin through Provo Canyon.  Winding the bike up to about 70 - 75mph around curves that are rated for 35 - 45 at most in many cases.  Wearing Levis, a tank top, and flip-flop sandals.  Goes whipping around one of those curves, weaving into the oncoming lane with the centrifugal force of the turn, and wouldn't you know it, coming around the curve at the same time was somebody in a Porche.  My buddy's bike contacted at the passenger side headlight and flipped around, embedding itself in the Porche's front fender panel on the passenger side - ejecting my buddy, of course.  He left the bike so forcefully that his Levis stripped the paint from the bike's gas tank, he remembers distinctly flying about 50 feet above the Porche, and continuing downrange another 150 feet or so before landing in the gravel on the roadside.  He was scraped up around his legs from his landing, but the paramedics and the hospital could find nothing else physically wrong with him.

As I said, it was his "Come to Jesus" moment.  I met him, and served for a time with him as a missionary for our church.

[DixieBelle]

What was frustrating is that even with first aid training and equipment, there is always so damn little you can do.

Every single time I have rendered aid to an accident victim it has been a matter of holding someone still or holding someones hand until help arrives.

You just feel kind of useless and helpless is all. 

I know the feeling. But trust me, the person you're helping doesn't see it that way.

[BlueStateSaint]

I've heard it said that there are two types of motorcycle riders--those who have had crashes, and those that will have crashes.

One of the guys in my unit here at the NYS agency I work for has a Harley.  Don't know what year, or what model.  He absolutely hates riding it down here from his house, as he says that there's too many idiots on I-87.  'Course, he lives some 40 miles away.  The reason why he rides it, when he doesride it, is simple--@ 55 mpg is tough to look down at.

Ever since my head injury 20 years ago, my balance has had its' moments.  I can count the number of times I've been on a bicycle since then on one hand.  I'd never consider a motorcycle--and if I did, my wife would be fully justified in giving me another head injury to stop me.

[dandi]

What was frustrating is that even with first aid training and equipment, there is always so damn little you can do.

Every single time I have rendered aid to an accident victim it has been a matter of holding someone still or holding someones hand until help arrives.

You just feel kind of useless and helpless is all. 

No kidding.  All the first aid, stretcher bearer, first responder, etc type training in the world and most times it's just you holding them in place with nothing but your shirt to use for bandages.

Know exactly what you mean.   

[Flame]

Just found out from my daughter that a good friend of her room-mate at her summer dance thing was killed on motorcycle the same evening asdf posted this.

Freaky timing.

[paladin0]

My roommate was driving home one evening after a rain storm on I-55. A motorcycle was ahead of him and on when they attempted to turn off the expressway he wiped out, head slamming into the pavement. My roommate had to drive off the road to avoid hitting him or the bike. My roommate then stayed with the man until he was taken away, but the guy never regained consciousness and the paramedics indicated that it didn't look to good.

What I can't understand is, with all this information around, why do people on Motorcycles drive at excessive speeds down the freeways, weaving in and out of traffic? Drive between cars on the lane dividers, and all the other stupid stuff. With people moving to smaller and smaller cars, these bikes in high speed collisions will start killing more and more people.

Paladin0

[Chris_]

What I can't understand is, with all this information around, why do people on Motorcycles drive at excessive speeds down the freeways, weaving in and out of traffic? Drive between cars on the lane dividers, and all the other stupid stuff. With people moving to smaller and smaller cars, these bikes in high speed collisions will start killing more and more people.

Some people choose suicide in more overt ways - a noose from the rafters, a bottle of sleeping pills, the cold soothing steel of a gun barrel in your mouth - and some choose the long, drawn out methods, like tempting the fates on a motorcycle, smoking 3 packs a day, or putting up Barrack Obama yard signs in Robert Byrd's front yard.