RHU Discussion: The Responsibility of Using First Aid On Custys

From PolitePatron:

I saw that story about a worker discouraged from giving CPR to a dying co-worker and thought I'd share a totally different version of that kind of story from a few years ago.

So my name comes from the fact that I worked at a theatre/public park when I was in high school. Great place, outdoors and open, with lots of hills and sights to explore and picnic on pre-show. Now I'd been working there for two years (one volunteer and one paid) and it was my LAST day. My very last. It was after lunch (and our day ended at 3) so I was only a few hours away from being done forever. I got the easy job of standing at an intersection in the hiking path and directing people the right way. Cushy, fun, and relaxing.

All of a sudden a man ran up to me in a panic. Turns out a boy was running around and fell and hit his head on the asphalt road. I'm all alone, so I radio-ed for my boss (who was an adult) and got one of the other patrons to call 911. I sat with the mother holding her son - I'll never forget, he had to be about 6 and his face almost seemed blue. And she just kept asking me to do something. Now, I was in uniform, radio, badges, everything, and I'm a Girl Scout, but I hadn't had CPR or First Aid training in over 2 years and I was 17! Our job had no system for handling medical crises besides radio-ing for help, no first aid/CPR training or anything.

To this day, I don't remember the ambulance arriving. It's just blank between when I radio-ed and when I sat down in the employee lounge after it was all over. The boy turned out to be fine once the paramedics came and my boss actually was really impressed by how I handled things, but on my exit interview I told her that I should have been given First Aid training when I joined, and that I had felt useless.

Her response: "If you had First Aid training, you would have felt responsible for treating that boy instead of getting help right away. That's no burden we ever want you guys to have."

I know it's a totally different situation - they called 911 right away, my boss did have First Aid training, and I was underage. But it's always stuck with me that, Good Samaritan Laws aside, no matter how worried I was, I probably couldn't have helped him. In a way, I'm glad my training was so long ago I didn't try to remember correct procedure well enough to attempt it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't help someone, of course! I am a Girl Scout after all! I'm just saying that yes, sometimes companies are jerks about helping others because they don't want to get sued. But sometimes workplace rules about First Aid have a purpose. Thoughts?

(Also, compare that to your last day at a job!)

Till Next Time!

--PolitePatron

 

Comments

[Retail Renegade]

In my opinion I wouldn't give first aid unless it was my friends or family. Other than that people arn't worth it to risk my job and life over for.

[Kay]

Even if you had First Aid/CPR training, unless you were being paid as a responder e.g. lifeguard, you wouldn't have had to use it. It's your choice to respond (again, unless you're being paid to do so).

[Tarat]

Depending on where you live, the Good Samaritan Act can cover different things. I implore you to check up on yours.

Many areas have it so that as long as you acted in "good faith" and weren't grossly negligent, you can't be sued. Many jurisdictions also require you to at least call 911 and stay there until EMT or someone qualified arrives on scene.

And @Retail Renegade, you really wouldn't help a random stranger if they were critically injured? We talk about how random custys do random acts of awesomeness, but aren't prepared to return the favor if need be. I really hope that you would AT LEAST alert 911 instead of walking on by...

[Humor_Me]

It all depends on your fight/flight/freeze response. Considering you were 17 and the first aid training you would have been taught probably wouldn't have involved possible head trauma, you did the right thing by just sitting there keeping the mother as calm as possible.

If you read my response on the board, I was prepared to help with CPR because I remembered what to do because I remembered it like it was yesterday. Not everybody does that. I can walk into another room and forget why I went in there but still remember CPR in an emergency? The brain is a bizarre and wonderful thing.

What I didn't say on the board was that after I was told not to help with CPR was to help the hysterical girlfriend who had come back downstairs leaving her 4yo daughter sleeping unattended. I could hear the ambulance and paramedics coming, and when they showed up and started working on her BF, it was going to throw her into a whole new set of hysterics.

I sent her back upstairs because I figured the sirens might wake up her daughter and freak her out if she figured out that the guy that had been supposed to watch her was in serious condition and nobody (yet) knew why.

In the end, my son went upstairs and watched the little girl while the troopers tried to work out what happened (the hysterical GF and the other neighbor originally giving CPR were taken down to HQ for questioning) since I couldn't climb to the 3rd floor, but sometimes just having someone to keep the hysterical calm is the best you can do.

[trekkiebabe31]

Yeah, I took CPR myself but it's been several years ago, but still I would try my best to offer whatever assistance I could, even if it's just sitting with someone and praying or offering support.

[Humor_Me]

There was just a newscast about a 2yo little girl in (China?) that was hit by a car and left severely injured in the middle of the street. They showed person after person that passed that just ignored her bleeding body until one woman at least finally pulled her to the side. I guess the girl is going to recover, but it was horrible to think of all of those people just looking and going by.

Its hard to believe that humans have become so desensitized to life that they could just go by and not even make a call for an ambulance or the police.

I can't do that to a human or an animal. I just spent a couple of days with a Red-Eared Slider (aquatic turtle) in my kitchen sink because some fucking idiot had dropped it off on the grounds here figuring that they didn't want to take care of it anymore. Seeing as we live IN THE DESERT, that was basically a death sentence for that poor thing. The only reason it survived as long as it did is that they are watering the fuck out of the grass right now getting ready for winter. Fortunately, I was able to find it a good home. People who dump animals (still trying to place a cat) need to be left out in the desert with only a book on how to survive. How's THAT for "Survivor"?

[Alison Randall]

Sorry, but the burden you WOULD have felt--how would it have been worse than the way you feel for not being able to help him? Your manager gave you an excuse--not a reason.

[Retail Renegade]

Of course id call 911 im not that much of an asshole. But I wouldnt try to do cpr or hold pressure on a gun shot wound. I guess the only exception would be a child or baby.

[Logan]

Remember that when you're bleeding out from a gunshot wound. Hopefully all the people standing around will feel the same way you do, as die there.

[Bob]

Just remember if you suddenly need aid, the other people might think, oh, someone else will do it.

Even before 2 years of training to be a Paramedic I would stop and assist with people who have injured themselves, and now after my training (off duty), I still will assist. That drunk guy slumped against the wall? Who actually turns out to be an elderly gentleman who has just had a cardiac arrest while getting food for his wife.

Because if I was in that situation, I would want to be helped. And not walked by.

[Tarat]

Got to agree with Bob on this.

Last year, I had a car wreck and luckily, some random guy stopped and helped me. He assessed me, called 911, and stayed there until my mom and the ambulance arrived.

There were also 2 other cars that stopped to see if they could help. One had a child with her. She helped my mom find my glasses and textbooks.

I found out later that the guy was a first responder, but at the time, I was very appreciative, thinking a random stranger was helping.

Even if you don't have medical training, you can still help in an emergency. Don't assume that someone else has already called 911 or put pressure on the gunshot wound. The 911 dispatcher will walk you through the steps if you don't know what to do.

[Nocturnesthesia]

Ah yes, the bystander effect. Last year, I was in a bar with 15-20 people when someone yells "Heyy lookat this!" The high-rise across the street was in fucking flames. After 10 seconds of everyone standing there scratching themselves, and I saw what they were looking at, I said... "Isn't someone going to call the cops?" *more blank stares*.... Yeah, I called emergency and was apparently the first one to do so.

[Logan]

I had a girlfriend who was studying nursing. She was driving home from school once, and some cars were pulled to the side of the road. One guy was having a heart attack, and other cars had pulled over, but they were just standing around with their thumbs up their asses. No one had even called 911. She took over, ordering them around and starting cpr. Ended up saving the guys life. She decided to go into EMTing. She worked well at keeping her head in high pressure situations.

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