The other night I was in Stuttgart having just come out of the railway station and waiting to cross the main road. There was a screech of tyres, a bang like an explosion, and a motorcyclist flew through the air about 5m away from me. He flew over the VW Tiguan he’d obviously rear ended, over a “Keep Right” sign, which his very large motorbike smashed into, and landed head first in the road, before skidding into the kerb, at which point his helmet came off, and ended up blood smeared and unconscious on his back on the other side of the road, lying in a horrible position and bleeding profusely. Horrified I ran to help and called an ambulance on my mobile. A number of people also came across and started administering first aid. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been on a first aid course.
Within 5 minutes an ambulance had appeared, along with the paramedics. Some enterprising onlookers had started directing traffic. I’d never been confronted with a near death experience before and just wanted to ascertain whether the guy was going to survive. Amazingly, by the time the paramedics tried to put him onto a stretcher, he was actually trying to stand up. The streams of blood were from a bleeding nose and he didn’t want to be taken to a hospital. The driver of the car he’d hit, a young woman around 20, was distraught having presumably also thought he was dead and was being treated by medics.
The police arrived, took statements and measured the skid marks which were quite extensive. The motorcyclist, by the way, I guess was mid fifties. Me? I’m going to enroll on a first aid course. But the scene of this guy flying through the air and crashing head first into the kerb will stay with me a very long time.
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Veery lucky indeed.... and by the sound of it the damn fool didn't have his skid-lid fastened properly.
I do hope he did end up going to hospital at least for a check-up.... essential precaution with any kind of head injury of course.
Fair play to you for learning first aid. I trained in the Army but really must do a refresher, don't suppose they use leeches these days!
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A couple of years ago one of our Occupational Health Nurses gave us a presentation on motorcycle first aid for bikers. This was not the run of the mill first aid but had an angle specifically towards bikers and life and death first aid which dispelled some of the myths.
This guy had worked in the Military and A&E. He had a very small but specialist first aid kit with the most important pieces being an airway and mouth to mouth mask.
At the end of a really thought provoking 2 hours he declared his son had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Difficult one to follow that!
Sad thing is I cant really remember some of those tips. Would need to be an regular input.
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I'm going on a Bikesafe/FBoS (First Bike on Scene) course next weekend, I had to do a basic First Aid course a couple of years ago - ticket is still valid I think,.
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...I’d never been confronted with a near death experience before...
I was in a car that was a couple of cars behind a towed car which crashed into a bus stop, killing a child.
The towed car was on the end of a rope and the guy sat in it lost control at a roundabout.
It was soon obvious from the reaction of people at the bus stop something nasty had happened.
I remember seeing the little girl lying there, her bottom half could best be described as like what you see on a butcher's slab - pink, but very little blood.
She was making a sort of other-worldly gurgling noise through her nose.
I remember thinking 'might have to do some first aid here, and I don't know what I'm doing'.
Mightily relieved to see another guy was there already, knelt down, attempting the kiss of life.
Good for him, must have been hard to 'go in' in those circumstances.
The girl died, but she'd have stood no chance at all if she had to rely on my first aid skills or my willingness to deploy them.
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On the subject of passer-bys having first aid knowledge I've had to call on people to help several times now when working trains and someone going ill... Even though I have a very basic knowledge of first aid I take the view that its always better to have help from someone that really knows their stuff, so my first course of action is to get on the PA (or get another member of staff to do it) and call for anyone with medical knowledge... I once ended up with two doctors, three nurses, and trained first-aider and a vet when one guy had a heart attack!
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I admire people who know immediately what to do in such circumstances.
To be of any use at all I'd need much more than just a first aid course.
I'd have to be taught how to overcome shock/paralysis before I could even move and do anything, how to overcome total revulsion at the sight or thought of blood, and how to overcome profound distaste at merely touching strangers, let alone giving someone the kiss of life.
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>> by the sound of it the damn fool didn't have his skid-lid fastened properly.
I think it's quite difficult to say whether he was a "damn fool" or not.
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>> I think it's quite difficult to say whether he was a "damn fool" or not.
Well, judging from the length of the skidmark and the force with which his motorbike bounced off the car and hit the road sign he was going at a hell of a speed - in a 50km/h zone.
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I witnessed a lad knocked flying through the air after a car hit his bike at speed. The lad ended up in the middle of the road, unconscious with some nasty looking injuries. Fortunately he was more or less in the recovery position and breathing. I was first there and stood over him windmilling my arms until another couple of motorists parked either side to protect him. I then had to prevent 'do-gooders' moving him off the road.
A young cop was the first officialdom to arrive and decided no action was the best course until medical help turned up. He joined me shortly afterwards as we both parked our breakfasts in a ditch.
I was pleased I was able to cope as well as I did. I'd be no good as a first-aider, I've been treated by a doctor when I was brave enough to try and give blood once!
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A very lucky motorcyclist - Harleyman
