Is it safe? Am I sure?
During my drive to work on saturday morning through the Forest, I came across a scene on the road.
Two vehicles were damaged, on the same side of the road. A lady was wandering around on the grass verge flapping her arm about, and a man was staggering across the road in front of me, and then collapsed onto the other grass verge...
Mirrors, hazards lights on, stop somewhere safe... No phone signal!
She's screaming, so she's alright for a bit. He's rolling around a bit, struggling to breathe, complaining about a pain in the chest.. No obvious injuries, no blood, no gurgling noises. Yes he had been wearing a seatbelt, yes the airbags had gone off, yes, of course its going to hurt! Check the vehicles.. Are there any other passengers or casualties? No! Thank goodness for that!
Someone finds a signal and calls in for help.
Luckily there was an Event happening at the Speech House field. One of the guys was an ex combat medic, and called in their own paramedic car from Beechenhirst. They turned up fast, and started working with the two casualties.
Car engines were off, but the rear windscreen washer was going at full squirt, as if it was trying to help wash the debris off the road. Some of the Event guys turned up with some big bolt cutters to isolate the battery, permanently. The rear washer gave up and waited for the council road sweeper to take over cleaning the Tarmac.
Paramedic car turns up, calm, caring, organised, efficient. Brilliant. Nothing for us to do now except make sure the other traffic turns round safely, they will have to find their own diversion route.
Remember what you saw, nothing more, nothing less. Someone mentioned seeing something, but I didn’t see it, so I wont talk about it. Dont forget anything that I did see. The police will need everything I can give them, but it must be accurate.
Ambulance turns up soon after the fast response car had arrived. They start doing their thing, dealing with the casualties, making notes of the damage to the cars and drivers seats, with photos to back it all up, presumably incase the hospital staff need to check the possible cause of an injury, to work out how much force was involved in the collision.
Police turn up. They are organised. They have obviously had too many chances to work out the best system to use to check safety, find witnesses, check casualties, keep traffic away from the scene. Road blocks are in place straight away. Casualties and witnesses are talked to, to get the basic information. Photos are taken, visibility and lighting conditions are checked. Tyres are checked to see if a puncture was the cause of the collision. No, not this time. Then to start talking to witnesses in more detail this time.. Was I the first one on scene? What did I see? Who got out of which vehicle? Where did they go? What did they say? Who moved that bit of debris? From where? Why? Were the vehicle engines still running? Who turned them off? Where are the keys? More questions, more questions.
Ambulance is on its way back, road is cleared enough to allow traffic to pass, while recovery vehicles are organised for the two cars.
My incar Video recorder has recorded my drive, and the whole scene as it happened. It turns out that I arrived immediately after the impact, and the car was still spinning on the Tarmac. Clouds of radiator steam and airbag gases pouring out of each vehicle. Drivers escaping out of the cars, and then going into shock. Crowds of people running from the Event to see if they can help. Unfortunately I was not in the right place at the right time to see the collision happen. I was about two seconds too late, so it wasn't recorded, but the cause is thought to be known.
Apparently, it is believed that, allegedly...
A vehicle was driving to the Event. The driver passed the entrance before the driver had a chance to slow safely, so the car was driven to the next junction to turn round, safely. As the car was approaching the entrance from the other direction, the driver was looking into the field to ensure it was the right Event. Unfortunately, the driver then turned across the road, into the gateway, just as another vehicle was driving along the road in the opposite direction.
Next time you hear me ask " is it safe, are you SURE?" you know why I am asking. Scanning and Planning. All-round Awareness. If you're not sure, slow down! If you’re still not sure, slow down more!
It all makes sense.
During my drive to work on saturday morning through the Forest, I came across a scene on the road.
Two vehicles were damaged, on the same side of the road. A lady was wandering around on the grass verge flapping her arm about, and a man was staggering across the road in front of me, and then collapsed onto the other grass verge...
Mirrors, hazards lights on, stop somewhere safe... No phone signal!
She's screaming, so she's alright for a bit. He's rolling around a bit, struggling to breathe, complaining about a pain in the chest.. No obvious injuries, no blood, no gurgling noises. Yes he had been wearing a seatbelt, yes the airbags had gone off, yes, of course its going to hurt! Check the vehicles.. Are there any other passengers or casualties? No! Thank goodness for that!
Someone finds a signal and calls in for help.
Luckily there was an Event happening at the Speech House field. One of the guys was an ex combat medic, and called in their own paramedic car from Beechenhirst. They turned up fast, and started working with the two casualties.
Car engines were off, but the rear windscreen washer was going at full squirt, as if it was trying to help wash the debris off the road. Some of the Event guys turned up with some big bolt cutters to isolate the battery, permanently. The rear washer gave up and waited for the council road sweeper to take over cleaning the Tarmac.
Paramedic car turns up, calm, caring, organised, efficient. Brilliant. Nothing for us to do now except make sure the other traffic turns round safely, they will have to find their own diversion route.
Remember what you saw, nothing more, nothing less. Someone mentioned seeing something, but I didn’t see it, so I wont talk about it. Dont forget anything that I did see. The police will need everything I can give them, but it must be accurate.
Ambulance turns up soon after the fast response car had arrived. They start doing their thing, dealing with the casualties, making notes of the damage to the cars and drivers seats, with photos to back it all up, presumably incase the hospital staff need to check the possible cause of an injury, to work out how much force was involved in the collision.
Police turn up. They are organised. They have obviously had too many chances to work out the best system to use to check safety, find witnesses, check casualties, keep traffic away from the scene. Road blocks are in place straight away. Casualties and witnesses are talked to, to get the basic information. Photos are taken, visibility and lighting conditions are checked. Tyres are checked to see if a puncture was the cause of the collision. No, not this time. Then to start talking to witnesses in more detail this time.. Was I the first one on scene? What did I see? Who got out of which vehicle? Where did they go? What did they say? Who moved that bit of debris? From where? Why? Were the vehicle engines still running? Who turned them off? Where are the keys? More questions, more questions.
Ambulance is on its way back, road is cleared enough to allow traffic to pass, while recovery vehicles are organised for the two cars.
My incar Video recorder has recorded my drive, and the whole scene as it happened. It turns out that I arrived immediately after the impact, and the car was still spinning on the Tarmac. Clouds of radiator steam and airbag gases pouring out of each vehicle. Drivers escaping out of the cars, and then going into shock. Crowds of people running from the Event to see if they can help. Unfortunately I was not in the right place at the right time to see the collision happen. I was about two seconds too late, so it wasn't recorded, but the cause is thought to be known.
Apparently, it is believed that, allegedly...
A vehicle was driving to the Event. The driver passed the entrance before the driver had a chance to slow safely, so the car was driven to the next junction to turn round, safely. As the car was approaching the entrance from the other direction, the driver was looking into the field to ensure it was the right Event. Unfortunately, the driver then turned across the road, into the gateway, just as another vehicle was driving along the road in the opposite direction.
Next time you hear me ask " is it safe, are you SURE?" you know why I am asking. Scanning and Planning. All-round Awareness. If you're not sure, slow down! If you’re still not sure, slow down more!
It all makes sense.
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