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Jan. 20th, 2009 02:05 pmWhile I’m in a lull I thought I’d write about what happened yesterday. I give you fair warning, I am halfway through my last shift in a run of three in which I’ve worked every second eight hours (that’s 8 hours on, 8 hours off, 8 hours on, 8 off, 8 on) so I may make little sense.
Yesterday I was on my way in to do the afternoon/evening shift. When the tram went under Flemington Bridge I saw a man lying on the footpath in the sun. I saw him so quickly I wasn’t really sure I’d seen him. After about a minute it dawned on me that a man lying flat on his back on a public footpath in the middle of a hot afternoon was not usual and he probably needed help. I thought maybe I should call 000, then I froze. I thought “What if he’s okay and I’m wasting their time? What if I didn’t really see a man at all, just a pile of rubbish or something? Surely if it really was a man someone else will call an ambulance” And that was when I decided to call 000, because I realised everyone was probably thinking the same thing. Sure enough, when I started talking to the operator a few people overheard and came over to say they’d seen him too.
Talking to the ambulance operator was difficult, because it was very hard to explain exactly where I’d seen the man since that is the spot where the road changes name and three suburbs kind of overlap (is it Travancore? Ascot Vale? Flemington?). Also, he asked me all the questions they have to, I know from my job they can’t deviate from the script, so even though my answer to “Was he conscious?” was “I don’t know, I wasn’t close enough” he still had to ask “Was he breathing?” I felt stupid, because I couldn’t give much info and it just hadn’t occurred to me to get off the tram and check. I was even running early for work, and I’m sure even if it made me late stopping to help someone who had collapsed(which is what I’d thought had happened) would be an adequate excuse. Still, as I hadn’t got off the tram I had to file that under “interesting- look into why you failed to stop later” and gave the ambos as much info as possible.
When I got to work I mentioned it to one of the paramedics, who told me he’d heard Footscray had picked the guy up. Later I asked the Flight Coordinator (who is the person with whom I work the most closely) if he knew what had happened to the man and if he was alright. He said he didn’t know, since it would have been a road job, not an air job, and even if he did know he wouldn’t be able to tell me. Which I know is fair, but I was feeling quite awful as what I had seen dawned on me.
Late last night I got a call from the cops, my mobile number was attached to the 000 call. I spoke to a policewoman who got me to recount what I’d seen in as much detail as possible. She asked if I’d seen any blood, I said no. She then told me he’d jumped from the bridge, not just collapsed on the footpath. But the ambulance got there in time, and as of 11pm last night he was still alive. I said that I was glad, she said that he might not feel the same way, from that I’m guessing he’s not in very good shape. Still, alive is good, and I know if I hadn’t called I would have felt awful, and it’s possible he could have died.
The moral of this story: Even if you feel like an idiot, call 000. And get off the bloody tram. At least I got it half right.
Yesterday I was on my way in to do the afternoon/evening shift. When the tram went under Flemington Bridge I saw a man lying on the footpath in the sun. I saw him so quickly I wasn’t really sure I’d seen him. After about a minute it dawned on me that a man lying flat on his back on a public footpath in the middle of a hot afternoon was not usual and he probably needed help. I thought maybe I should call 000, then I froze. I thought “What if he’s okay and I’m wasting their time? What if I didn’t really see a man at all, just a pile of rubbish or something? Surely if it really was a man someone else will call an ambulance” And that was when I decided to call 000, because I realised everyone was probably thinking the same thing. Sure enough, when I started talking to the operator a few people overheard and came over to say they’d seen him too.
Talking to the ambulance operator was difficult, because it was very hard to explain exactly where I’d seen the man since that is the spot where the road changes name and three suburbs kind of overlap (is it Travancore? Ascot Vale? Flemington?). Also, he asked me all the questions they have to, I know from my job they can’t deviate from the script, so even though my answer to “Was he conscious?” was “I don’t know, I wasn’t close enough” he still had to ask “Was he breathing?” I felt stupid, because I couldn’t give much info and it just hadn’t occurred to me to get off the tram and check. I was even running early for work, and I’m sure even if it made me late stopping to help someone who had collapsed(which is what I’d thought had happened) would be an adequate excuse. Still, as I hadn’t got off the tram I had to file that under “interesting- look into why you failed to stop later” and gave the ambos as much info as possible.
When I got to work I mentioned it to one of the paramedics, who told me he’d heard Footscray had picked the guy up. Later I asked the Flight Coordinator (who is the person with whom I work the most closely) if he knew what had happened to the man and if he was alright. He said he didn’t know, since it would have been a road job, not an air job, and even if he did know he wouldn’t be able to tell me. Which I know is fair, but I was feeling quite awful as what I had seen dawned on me.
Late last night I got a call from the cops, my mobile number was attached to the 000 call. I spoke to a policewoman who got me to recount what I’d seen in as much detail as possible. She asked if I’d seen any blood, I said no. She then told me he’d jumped from the bridge, not just collapsed on the footpath. But the ambulance got there in time, and as of 11pm last night he was still alive. I said that I was glad, she said that he might not feel the same way, from that I’m guessing he’s not in very good shape. Still, alive is good, and I know if I hadn’t called I would have felt awful, and it’s possible he could have died.
The moral of this story: Even if you feel like an idiot, call 000. And get off the bloody tram. At least I got it half right.
