First Aid

I think I helped save a guy's life today...well, only if there had been no one around and everyone was injured when it happened. Anywho here is what went down...

YDS is on a huge hill, and as I was walking up the hill a friend and I saw a biker going down the hill out of control. We turned to watch him, and his bicycle ran smack into the middle of a mini van, leaving a huge dent and breaking the side window. The guy ended up on the ground bleeding and in really bad shape. Being a lifeguard, I ran over to him, called 911, told whom who I was and started helping. An EMT who saw it came over too. The guy had about a 3 inch gash down the middle of his forehead/head, and the back of his head had a big flap of skin hanging down. Some other guy had a first aid kit so we put on gloves, stabilized his head, and started to clean up some of the blood out of his eyes. While the others were talking to each other, I talked to the guy to see how he was. Luckily, he was conscious and knew who he was, where he was, and wasn't really confused. He also had feeling everywhere, which is another good sign. It was a major head injury, but hopefully he avoided brain trauma. So the ambulances came and got him, and I answered some questions for the cops and that was that. I was shaky all afternoon though, as the adrenaline hit my system and then crashed. It was insane to watch, but I'm glad I was there to help. The firefighters only said thanks to the EMT guy (not that it matters) but the cop did say thanks to me. I mean, hell I was on the scene first. But that's not important. The guy was taken to a hospital and hopefully is recovering.

Lessons learned: Keep First Aid and CPR current, because you'll never know when you need them.
Keep a set of gloves in my backpack, for the same above reason.
And, most importantly,
ALWAYS WEAR A BIKE HELMET. This guy's injuries would not have been so bad (probably) if he'd had one on. I think breaking the window actually helped absorb some of the impact, but sheesh. His head cracked open like a melon.

Keep him in your prayers...