From: c31002wb@jezebel.wustl.edu (William Burris)
Subject: Re: Helping at accidents - LONG - (was Deer Claims Another)
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 23:18:36 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.192913.6093@ncsu.edu> steve@bucolix.ece.ncsu.edu (Steve Garnier) writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.030618.5807@wuecl.wustl.edu> 
>c31002wb@jezebel.wustl.edu (William Burris) writes:
>> [ ... ]
>>I pulled the guy out and layed him in a gully about 50' from the truck
>>(it was the best I could do) and began administering first aid.  Meanwhile,
>>my younger brother was laying out flares and trying to reach someone by
>>phone/CB.  The CB ended up working on ch 9.  and there was a trooper there
>>in about 30 minutes.  While I waited, I talked with my brother via the hand-
>>held CB and the van, mounted CB.  By the time the ambulance got there, they
>>were well aware of all the visible injuries of the driver since we had 
>>relayed that info. using the troopers radio.  Btw, niether the trooper nor
>>anyone else (paramedics, etc) ever came down the side of the mountain.
>>They sent a bed down and had me strap the guy in.  They then pulled him up
>>and then me - brave guys eh?  
>
>William, on behalf of homo sapiens, I would like to thank you for your
>heroism...most definitely above and beyond the call of duty.  It's actions
>like yours that lend meaning to the noun "humanity".  Bravo!
>

Steve,

Thanks.  Up until a few days ago I'd have said it was "nothing".  But after
hearing all the stuff on the net in the past day or two about lawsuits, 
I'm starting to wonder if what I did wasn't a really, REALLY stupid thing
to do.  Who knows, the guy could have sued my ass off for moving him.
Since I was in a hurry to get home and didn't stick around long, I never
did find out the guys name, much less how he turned out.

I still carry all my emergency "gear".  Including the climbing rope.  But
I have to admit that, should I ever come across another accident such as 
that one, I'll most likely stop and consider the risks instead of just
"jumping in with both feet" like I did last time.  I'm not a paramedic
and I'm not trained in emergency medicine except for basic first aid and
CPR (and those only b/c my wife insisted I take the course).

I guess I got lucky since I wasn't sued or seriously hurt - I did suffer
a sprained ankle which a paramedic bandaged for me free of charge (imagine
that!) and a *major* rope burn around my waist and thighs from the rope 
harness I made (yes I was wearing Levis but hanging on a rope for over
an hour tends to put a lot of stress on the body).

oh well, I'll stop boring everyone,
-william
 

                           ||   Every four seconds a woman has a baby.       || William E. Burris          ||   Our problem is to find this woman and        || c31002wb@jezebel.wustl.edu ||   stop her.                                    || 
                           ||                                                ||  		      	   ||   Drawing on my fine command of the language,  ||                            ||         I said nothing.                        ||  
Washington University - St. Louis, Missouri (USA)
Department of Life