Joe Frickin' Friday Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Today I attended a course on accident scene management. I've had basic first aid courses before, but somehow they didn't seem quite adequate to me. This course skipped basic first aid, but covered a lot more stuff that's likely to be relevant if you ever encounter (or are involved in) a motorcycle accident. It was put on by an instructor from Accident Scene Management, Inc. in conjunction with a local HOG chapter. In fact, apart from one other fellow and myself, everyone in attendance was a HOG member, as was the instructor. We covered a lot of items, including traffic management, how to move an injured victim safely (only when necessary), how to safely remove a full face helmet (if mouth-2-mouth is needed) without exacerbating any possible neck injury, and a "jaw thrust" technique for ensuring an open air way during mouth-2-mouth, again without exacerbating any possible neck injury. The instructor also covered what ought to be in an accident response kit that you can carry on your bike. Not just first aid stuff, but things like an orange safety vest, and light sticks, and so on. Everyone will have different limits for what they're willing to carry on a bike, but there was a lot of good info there. One item that really impressed me: trauma shears (I think that's what they were called). These are a brutally tough pair of scissors; she damn near cut a penny in half with them. But one of the blades has a blunted tip so that you can safely use it to cut away a victim's clothing without gouging his skin, so that you can get clear access to any wounded area without the victim having to undergo the usual contortions to remove his clothes. These shears need to be tough, of course, in case you have to cut through leathers. A couple of other low-volume items that may prove invaluable: a couple of aspirin (for a victim of a cardiac event), and a couple of Benadryl (for a victim of anaphylactic shock following insect sting/bite). Frankly I could use a refresher course on basic first aid, including CPR. If you're serious about taking some steps to be ready for the worst, I'd suggest the following sequence: 1. basic first aid course, including CPR (check the schedule at a local community college) 2. ASMI's beginner course 3. ASMI's advanced course. The beginner course I took ran from 8-2. Had my schedule permitted, I probably would have stayed for the advanced course, which ran from 2-6. I'll look it up again later this spring or summer. Check it out! Someday, you may be glad you did. Link to comment
DouglasR Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Nice post, Mitch! I had the unfortunate experience of watching a buddy crash last year on the way to the UnRally in Gunnison.... It happened so damned fast it wasn't even funny. I think the rest of us were in just about as much shock as he was! I work in the hazardous materials industry and have been to dozens of health and safety courses. I always carry a full first aid kit with shears, splint materials, etc. All things considered, though, the biggest scare we had during the accident was TRAFFIC CONTROL! My friend ended up about five feet off the pavement and his bike was a little beyond that, but it was on a blind curve up in the mountains above Silverton, CO with lots of tourist traffic as well as tractor-trailers and motorhomes. It was pretty spooky a few times dealing with traffic before we were able to get him moved further from the roadway. If you think crashing your bike is bad news, try getting hit by another vehicle while down! Anyway, everything worked out OK and my buddy is healed and ready to ride again. It was only a 25 mph crash but he broke his collarbone in two places and separated a couple of ribs. If he hadn't had a helmet and gear on I'm pretty sure I'd be tending a little white cross up near Red Mountain Pass... Ride safely, ATGATT!!!!!, and be prepared! Doug Link to comment
Eschelon1 Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Good information. Sounds like a good use of time for a day off of work!. A similar session was recently held at A&S. Sounds like something we all need to be prepared for. Link to comment
Calvin (no socks) Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Mitch, I have found myself in the situation a time or two and have taken action. Traffic control after the accident can be critical. On a long downhill with a turn at the bottom it was important to snap to, evaluate the downed cyclist or motorist, then make sure no further incidents occur. Hiked up the hill and slowed traffic..... that was a job in itself... dressed in a High Vis jacket and waving arms had little effect on overall traffic... they were in a hurry to see the accident! When the police arrived they took over my position with a car on the road and flashing lights.... It would be wise to take a course like this early in the riding season. Link to comment
Woodie Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Nice write-up Mitch! It's like I paid you for advertizing! Attend the Northeast First Aid seminar (the ASMI course) yourself! See Signup thread here! Glad you got some good stuff out of the class. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.