Life can be shorter than you expect
Published: Tue, 09/12/17
in 2012 a bizarre and tragic accident occurred in South Somerset. A local lady and her man friend were on a date at a restaurant in Bridport or Beaminster. A huge amount of rain had fallen already that day and during the evening the precipitation got even heavier. Apparently the couple decided to leave early before the weather got any worse. Their route back to Crewkerne would have taken them through the Beaminster tunnel on the A3066. At the precise moment that their car arrived at the mouth of the tunnel the rain loosened soil on the hillside above avalanched down and buried the car. The vehicle was not found for 10 days although the coroner was later stressed that both of the occupant’s death would have been effectively instantaneous. Ten second earlier and all would have been well, ten seconds later they might have run into a wall of mud which would have been a shock but probably not fatal.
Questions about the state of the hillside above the tunnel mouth had been raised before. However, you can count up the bubbles of risk for yourself to see how improbably unlucky this actual accident was. The coroner handed down verdicts of accidental death, which is official speak for ‘sometimes s*** just happens’.
Moral of this story? Life can be shorter than you think. If you are having a tasty meal in good company be present and enjoy the experience to the full. It probably won’t be the last time but you can never be sure. Make the most of each day in case it is your last. Okay, that is life, what does this mean for the martial arts instructor?
From a safety point of view we also need to be reminded that accidents will still happen no matter how careful you are and, assuming you survived the event, you will have to deal with the consequences. How should you deal with an accident?
As calmly and as appropriately as possible.
That may sound obvious but nothing really prepares you for coping with the sight of an injury involving blood and other physical damage and a person in real pain and distress. Or a person unconscious and you have real doubt about whether or not they are breathing. First aid courses will do simulations of injuries, sometimes with realistic make-up and prosthetics, but even these don’t really prepare you for real blood and genuine distress. So, whatever you are feeling inside, as the person in charge, you have to be in control and really just do three things:
First, do the best you can to ensure the situation does not worsen. If you don’t mind I won’t go into any details on resuscitation or other ‘life saving action’. I am not a qualified first aid instructor and an email would not be the right place to teach such skills even if I was. Just take charge and make sure the situation does not get worse.
Secondly, summon help as soon as possible. We are lucky that in the UK a well equipped ambulance manned by competent para medics is usually only a few minutes away. If you are in a particularly inaccessible spot there might even be a ride in a helicopter involved. In most parts of the country an emergency call can be made on your mobile phone. It used to be that on first aid courses we would rehearse sending someone to the nearest public telephone box (remember those?) to dial 999, telling them what to say and instructing them to come back and confirm the call had been made and likely response time. Now we are generally able to rely on mobile phone technology. But if this is not the case then make it your business to know the location of the nearest landline and have a plan to get to it if necessary.
Thirdly, manage an orderly handover to the first responders when they do arrive. Let them get on with their job but tell them anything they need to know about the accident and how the injury happened. Also tell them anything you know about the casualty’s medical history if the injured person cannot share the information themselves. Take a note of where the casualty is likely to be taken by the ambulance, bearing in mind that sometimes the driver is redirected to another emergency room altogether. If possible give the crew a name and phone number of the emergency contact for the casualty. Then, make sure you notify the emergency contact yourself, giving appropriate information, that is, don’t alarm them unnecessarily, but don’t lie either. Take care of any property belonging to the casualty and make sure it gets back to them or into the care of a trusted person.
Then get ready to be accountable for the situation, more on that in the next message.
regards
Graham
PS Last week we bought a metal shed to put up in the garden here at the new house. Venetia has cleared a space for it and it is a nice day so we get to do grown up Mechano, well that is what it looks like on the instructions. It also means we can clear a lot of stuff out of the way ready for the Stavcamp this weekend so we will have space for training and teaching inside and out. Weather forecast is looking good for the weekend so we are going to have a good time. http://www.stavcamp.org