(no subject)

[mstakenidentity]

While 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.

Comments

[asmodel.livejournal.com]

Yay for you for calling 000. Don't worry about not getting off the tram. You did one important thing which was that you called 000. While it may or may not have been better for you to check, they are more equipped to deal with it than you are. You did the right thing so don't feel you should be worried about your actions.

[clappamungus.livejournal.com]

I actually think you did the right thing in not getting off the tram. In the end, the guy was picked up and taken to hospital with your brief and sketchy description. You don't know what the situation might have been - for all you know, you could have walked into a dangerous situation. Best leave it to the professionals.

In any case, good on you for quick thinking and compassion.

[vox-diabolica.livejournal.com]

I agree, sire.

[joee-girl.livejournal.com]

On the other hand...
Yes, different country, different setup, etc. But I can see this guy's point - if someone called every time they thought they saw someone in trouble the system would be way overloaded.

Do you know of any figures of how often an ambulance is called when it's not necessary? It'd be interesting to see if it's such a problem here in Australia

[joee-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean for this post to sound so negative. I think you did the right thing in calling, and I probably would've done the same thing.

[vass]

I'm glad you called them. That was brave. And it's wonderful that he's still alive and that you maybe saved his life.

And it gets easier with practice. I've stopped and tried to wake unconscious people more than once, and called 000 a few times (usually they turned out to be passed out from drinking, but that doesn't mean they didn't need help.) It's a bit embarassing if it turns out that nothing was wrong (like the iron factory I thought was on fire where it turned out to be the glow from their melting iron) but when in doubt, it's always better to call.

[vivienne-aster.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't worry about not getting off the tram, as other people said. While it may be something you feel like you should do, there are safety and trust issues involved. Sure, do it, if you feel you need to, but be aware also that it's a risk, and it's fair not to take it.

The other thing about that (if you want to file it under "interesting") is probably more that you live in a large, scattered urban environment where everyone is anonymous. There is a lower level of trust and a tendency for people to distance themselves from one another in the city. Anonymity can function both as a security blanket (no-one knows me, no-one will remember that, no-one is keeping track of me) and a threat (I don't know that guy, and since the crowd around isn't keeping track of me...).

What I'm saying is that it's not a "you" thing, it's actually an urban phenomenon, and breaking out of that is extraordinarily difficult. I found it terrifying enough to offer my first aid assistance at that car accident, even though it wasn't needed in the end, just to put myself forward and take responsibility for a situation... Argh. So hard.

You did the important thing, and more than many would do.

[vox-diabolica.livejournal.com]

20/20 hindsight. If it had been a sack of rubbish, how would you be feeling?

Kudos, nevertheless!

[musosian.livejournal.com]

I think the cop's comment was just in relation to the fact that he'd jumped and therefore was hoping to no longer be alive.

Many of us know that despite some urges to jump off bridges and so forth, we generally appreciate surviving them... :(

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/]

I'm inclined to think that you did the right thing by not getting off. You didn't know what the situation was or if there were any safety issues there. The important thing was that you called the ambulance.

[thecatsamuel.livejournal.com]

Just to say yup, I think you did absolutely the right thing in calling 000 (I nearly put 999 by mistake then!) and NOT going yourself because it could have been a very dangerous situation - especially if it was an attack with the attackers still on the scene. All the first aid/safety courses I've done say call for help and don't go into a situation you don't know about. Fingers crossed he'll be ok.

999

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

A lot of phones around here will accept 999, 911 as well as the old number (000) and the current emergency number, 112.

(999 and 000 were designed in the days of rotary phones, when it was hard to accidentally dial all the way, or almost all the way, by accident. With push button phones, having the same digit repeated is actually kind of easy to mis-dial.. Especially when mobile phones will bypass the keylock when you enter an emergency number. (try hitting 112 or 000 and then the "dial" button.. well actually, don't, but it does work.)

[impostinator.livejournal.com]

You're brave and awesome and thoroughly competent (just so you know).

[melbournian.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear Chris. He died just after 2am the same morning.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

I think i would have rather not known that. :-(

[http://users.livejournal.com/_audhumla_/]

Your pause before you dialled was utterly normal. By and large people (at least in this society) tend to assume someone else has taken action and do nothing. There have been studies demonstrating that people are much more likely to do something if they are the only witness than if they are one of many. Often we also let our fear of social embarrassment ('what if I made a mistake and will look stupid?') overcome our desire to help. A lot of people wouldn't have called. After the night markets two guys started fighting on the train on my way home. I got as far as pulling out my phone but then thought 'Who do I call, I should tell someone but is two guys fighting really serious enough to call 000?' In the end they stopped before I decided what to do (it was just macho posturing bullshit, they were just trying to save face but didn't really want to fight). They got off at my station and I watched them walk in opposite directions and felt relieved.