+1 Bloomington Emergency Services

[The Bubba Effect]

This evening I had to call 911 in Bloomington.

I was present when a cyclist in the downtown area hit a parked truck and was injured.

I called 911, wrangled some onlookers into slowing down traffic and helped the guy best I could until the police, ambulance, ladder truck and ems pickup showed up. I will say this for the city of Bloomington EMS folks (fire, police, ambulance, etc), even though this happened downtown where you would expect a quick response, I was still surprised at how quick help showed up and how much help showed up. The guy left in an ambulance, I hope he turns out OK.

I know it is tempting, but think twice before piling onto the cyclist with smart ass jokes. I was not looking at him the instant he hit, but saw him immediately before he hit and I think he just slipped or something and BANG, truck. The guy took a pretty good hit and was bleeding more than makes a person comfortable to see, so try to be nice as he appeared to be just some guy who had a bit of bad luck and might be hurt bad.

It is encouraging when you call 911 and within a few minutes there are a dozen professionals there to take care of things. Bloomington is not an awesome place to be all the time, but their 911 operator/police/fire/ambulance/etc were on their game tonight.

If you know any of those folks, pat them on the back for me.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I work with many of them and probably have taught more than a few EMTs over the years.

 

[hoosierdoc]

if you're going to hurt yourself, always do it in a populated area served well by EMS. Good on you for helping him out.

 

[Hookeye]

How was the bike?

 

[The Bubba Effect]

How was the bike?

I overheard one of the officers saying something about it not appearing to be damaged. I do not think the truck was damaged either.

As an aside, I spent a good chunk of the past two years helping care for my father as his health declined. I took him to the emergency room several times and remember making the decision to call an ambulance to the house at least once. That experience caused me to adopt a policy that if I am ever standing there asking myself if we should go to the hospital, we go to the hospital, if I am wondering if I should call an ambulance, I start dialing 911. I am not a medical professional, I am not qualified to figure out exactly how serious a condition is or how badly someone is hurt. Already having that policy in place helped me make a quick decision to call 911.

I think a lot of us, me included, have a reluctance to call 911 because we do not know if the situation is bad enough and do not want to appear foolish if it is nothing + by calling 911, we acknowledge that we might have a serious problem on our hands and we are tempted to not call and "wait and see", kicking the can down the road and hoping things turn out alright.

Is there some type of published or practical guidance on when you should call for an ambulance? .

 

[bwframe]

...Is there some type of published or practical guidance on when you should call for an ambulance? .

Especially if it's not yourself injured, I don't think that erring on the side of caution is ever a bad idea.

If there is ever a concern of conscience, listen to the emergency services radio scanner broadcasts. The crowd that knows they aren't on the hook for a dime will call 911 for a runny nose.

 

[actaeon277]

For being part of a solution, Instead of a bystander.

 

[rosejm]

Especially if it's not yourself injured, I don't think that erring on the side of caution is ever a bad idea.

If there is ever a concern of conscience, listen to the emergency services radio scanner broadcasts. The crowd that knows they aren't on the hook for a dime will call 911 for a runny nose.

This is great advice right here. If you, as a reasonable, responsible adult thinks additional help might be needed, call 'em. If there's nothing for them to do, so be it. But it will definitely be more worthy than the road-rage/domestic/well-being calls that account for most of the calls.

 

[RevoWood123]

For being part of a solution, Instead of a bystander.

A lot of people would have done nothing and kept on about their business sadly. You did the right thing to help the guy out.

 

[yepthatsme]

There are those that run to help and there are those that run away. You know which one you are now.

Give yourself a pat on the back for being part of the solution.

 

[dprimm]

How many would have looked for a Pokeman on the guy?

Hmmm, wonder if I know him... (the cyclist)