Helping at motorcycle accidents

[Riff Raff]

Yeah, what Speedie said.

Also folks, when you ring 111 and talk to ambulance they can guide you through what you need to do for the patient. And they'll stay on the line for as long as you need them to, to talk you through it.

And everyone who rides a bike should have some first aid training. If you haven't got any, please go and do a course. You never know when you may have to use your skills.

[inlinefour]

If they're not breathing you have no choice. The techniques don't involve extensive training either. Just some training.

I repeat. If they're not breathing you have no choice. I don't think I could be any clearer.

I was reinforcing your comments Jim, or so I thought...

[Leong]

Dont move them off the road, bugger the traffic hold ups, they can all wait.

Any questions, fire away

So say the patient's lying on the road, round a blind corner, and you're first on the scene, the first thing to do would be to stop the traffic, get help to warn/stop following traffic, then check if the patient's responsive, call 111 as necessary, and if necessary do your first aid on the road? Is that "safe"? What are the complications of moving the patient to the side of the road?

[petesmeats]

Sweet there is some real good stuff here that i would not have known before now... What sort of gear should i have on the bike or with me when i'm riding??? i.e bandages or tools or anything... I have never really had anything with me when riding before... Any ideas? What is the most effective way of alerting traffic?

[sunhuntin]

BTW - your avatar sig thingee just reminded me about Poo's crash.

During a crash, kick the bike away if possible - don't hang onto it or it may drag you into more trouble, or you might get tangled up in it.

yep, with my bin i remember thinking "on impact, jump!" id didnt try and lay it down or use the breaks in any way. i knew there would be contact and as a result, kept the bike upright. my front end connected with her left side headlight. the minute they hit, i literally pushed up from the pegs [using the impact as a "springboard"] went right over her bonnet and landed on the other side. the bike fell sideways im assuming right in front of the car. had i have tried to lay it down or anything else, im certain i would have ended up up in oncoming traffic. also prevented the cow from driving off. lol.

i remember reading a while back about that, and thinking at the time you wouldnt have time to think. lmfao. proved myself wrong.

when i did land, i think i took a couple of seconds to realise i wasnt dead, and then my body did an instant self analysis, so i got up. the instant i managed to get up, my leg started complaining....thought it might be broken, but wanted off the road too bad. even wanted to go to work. hehehe

[Leong]

Complications of moving the patient to the roadside is aggravating a possible cervical spine injury, back injury or both (??severe spinal cord.. want to take that risk), if there are fractures, like femurs...common in motorcycle crashes, you can run the risk of the fracture compounding (poking out through the flesh) if it hasnt already, or the sharp bone edges severing life sustaining arteries.. Just leave em there.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to sever a femoral artery!! Thanks Speedie... another question.

Is there such a thing as a "typical" motorbike accident? You mention that the fractured femur is common...

[sunhuntin]

Yeah, you wouldn't want to sever a femoral artery!! Thanks Speedie... another question.

Is there such a thing as a "typical" motorbike accident? You mention that the fractured femur is common...

likely cos the legs take most of the hit id imagine.

[Katman]

Don't worry about me - pick ma fuckin' bike up!

[Riff Raff]

Is there such a thing as a "typical" motorbike accident? You mention that the fractured femur is common...

Usually caused by legs impacting with handlebars in crash - so it is often seen in motorbike crashes. Too many variables with motorbike crashes to give you typical injuries - I assume you are enquiring about other typical injuries you might see. Because you have very little protection on a motorbike, you are likely to see the whole range of injuries - from minor like a bit of road rash to severe, life threatening injuries. This is why it is important for us to do a thorough secondary survey, which is a check from head to toe for injuries.

[Leong]

Too many variables with motorbike crashes to give you typical injuries - I assume you are enquiring about other typical injuries you might see.

Yes. Just wanting a heads up on the likely injuries that occur so that one can be more prepared.

In the last 12mths I have witnessed one and been quite early at the scene of two other motorcycle accidents, none involving even minor injuries fortunately. In the case I witnessed the rider narrowly missed hitting a large rock which may have changed the outcome quite dramatically. Prior to getting my bike - none in 30yrs of driving, so perhaps brushing up on the First Aid/CPR skills would be a good idea!!

[Korea]

Everyone should read this (if you haven't already)

Accident Scene Management
a talk by: Slider Gilmore

http://www.molenda.com/accident.html

(I'm sure this is a repost but it goes back a while so I'm sure we'll all benefit from a repeat session.)

It starts like this:

The first hour of trauma is termed the ``Golden Hour'' by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The idea is that trauma victims have the best survival chance if they are in surgery within one hour after the accident. Qualified medical personnel are really the people who should be handling everything, but until they arrive there are things that we, untrained motorcyclists, can do to help the medical professionals before they arrive.

[Jsn]

Anyways the guy who came off is fine.. broken wrist and some scraping through the jeans.. will be in a cast for 2-3 months lol saw the xray and his wrist was like this _;- (yucky). was a vfr400 btw.

[Leong]

(I'm sure this is a repost but it goes back a while so I'm sure we'll all benefit from a repeat session.)

May be a repost, but there are MANY new people here, and I for one have not seen it before, so yes thanks for posting.

And I'm glad the guy in the OP is relatively OK!