Last week I wrote about how in many crisis situations you should actually stop and take 5 minutes to assess the situation, take a deep breath, and maybe even make a cup of tea. The point was, in many cases, we’re not talking life or death, and by taking a bit longer to respond we can have a better response.

I pointed out that you don’t always have that luxury. That happened to my mom’s partner within days of me writing last week’s post. While at work at a local supermarket chain, he heard someone shout “Man down”. Next thing he knew, a young man was laying on the floor having seizures. He jumped into action and provided the appropriate, immediate first aid. This included telling someone to call 911. Apparently no one else, including his manager responded at first. But, he had learned how to respond in his basic training in the Army decades ago. That training stuck.

My mom called me to talk about this and wondered why no one else had responded (she knows of my interest in emergency response and the like). I pointed out it’s a variety of factors, but often comes down to people don’t know how to respond, or they’ve assumed someone else has already responded. This discussion prompted a quick Facebook post by me that that I’m expanding upon here.

Let me ask you this, if someone collapsed in front of you at the mall, would you know what to do? What would you do? Would you do it?

The reality is, unfortunately many would not respond. So here’s my advice.

Get some training

You do not need to become an EMT to respond. In fact most training can be done in just a few hours.

Take a First Aid and a CPR course. Make sure the CPR course includes a segment on how to use an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). I’ve taken several such courses over the years and try to remain certified.

Take a Stop the Bleed class. This is a bit different from your standard First Aid class. I haven’t taken it yet, but plan to when I can find one near me (I may even look into getting one setup when I have a bit more free time).

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Call 911. Anyone can do this. I would recommend even teaching even your young children to do this if they find you or someone else unconscious. Even if they can’t communicate much details, 911 operators are trained to gather what information they can, have ways (usually electronically) of determining the address and dispatching help. (Please note, if your child or someone else calls 911 by accident, please do NOT hang up. Simply let them know it was a mistake. It happens, they understand. But if they aren’t made aware, they WILL dispatch resources).

TELL someone specific to call 911. If you’re about to render aid, do NOT assume someone has already called 911 or will. In a crowd, groupthink happens and everyone starts to freeze and/or assume someone else has it handled. My advice, don’t just say “someone call 911”. Point to a specific person and tell them to call 911. Odds are, they will do it. In many cases in an emergency, folks are simply looking for someone to take charge and to give them direction. Now, someone else may have already called 911, or it may end up being multiple people will be calling 911. THAT IS OK. That’s far better than no one calling if it’s an emergency. In the event of a heart attack minutes count. This means that the sooner 911 is called, the better.

Respond

This may sound obvious, but be prepared to act. Again, it’s a common trope that in large crowds, people tend NOT to act, because in part they expect someone else already has it covered. Be that person who does act.

Years ago in the northern Virginia area, I witnessed a car get t-boned on the far side of an intersection from me. There were 3 lanes of traffic in either direction. NO ONE stopped to check on the drivers. I had to wait for the light to change before I could cross the intersection and check on them. Fortunately, the driver of the car I checked on was fine, other than some very minor injuries from their air bag deploying. And by this time, another witness had finally stopped to check on the 2nd car. They too were fine. But several dozen people had witnessed the accident and only the two of us had responded. If they drivers had been seriously injured and no one had responded, things could have been much worse for them.

Carry gloves, maybe more

Carry nitrile gloves with you. Sounds perhaps a bit silly or trite, but they don’t take up room and you can toss them in your backpack, glove compartment (yes, really you can put gloves in there), your purse etc. If you do come across someone who is injured, especially if blood or other bodily fluids are present, don them. I even carry a tiny disposable rebreather mask for CRP in my work backpack. Takes up no room but it’s there if I need it.

When you enter public buildings, look to see if they have a sign about AED availability. Note it and if possible where it is. In addition to telling someone to call 911, be prepared to tell someone “Get the AED, I think there’s on next to the desk in reception.”

Get your employer involved

Get your work to sponsor training. And honestly, while many companies might offer video tutorials with a quick online quiz at the end, I think they’re a bare minimum. I think hands on training is FAR more effective. There’s a number of reasons for this as I understand it, including the fact that you’re often engaging multiple pathways to the brain (tactile as well as visual and auditory) and a certain level of stress can actually improve memorization.

Seeing a video about how to use an AED is very different from holding a training unit in your hands and feeling its weight and hearing it give you instructions directly. Applying a bandage is far more realistic when your mock patient is laying there groaning in pain. Even getting into the action of telling someone “Call 911” is far more impactful when you do it in a hands-on manner and not simply checking a box in an on-line quiz.

Find out what resources are available in the office. Is there a first aid kit? What’s in it? For larger offices, I would argue they should have an AED and perhaps a Stop the Bleed kit. When’s the last time the AED batteries were tested? Who is responsible for that?

This works

In the case of the “man down” that prompted this post, they are reportedly doing fine and suffered no injuries.

I know of a local case, at a school where a student collapsed. A coach and the school nurse responded. And while the nurse especially had more training, what saved the students life was having an AED on site and available. Even if the school nurse or coach had not been there, in theory any bystander could have responded in a similar fashion.

As I said above, you don’t have to be a highly trained EMT or the like to make an impact and save someone from further injury or even save a life. You simply need to have some basic training and be willing to respond.