The Man who can’t be moved

Your mother asked you to buy a bottle of soda to the nearest sari-sari store. While walking, you witness a high-speed Ducati motorcycle crashes.
Everybody is alarmed but no one attempts to respond. Perceiving the urgency to help the victim, you decide to approach him and offer some help.
The rule of thumb in responding a vehicular accident like this is to have control over the situation. A lay rescuer must ensure his safety, the victim’s safety and lastly, the crowd’s. There are a lot of potential hazards that can cause greater damage or may worsen the situation. That is why it is always advisable for a lay rescuer to size up the scene.
The first thing to do is to switch off the engine or remove the engine’s battery if there is any. This is to prevent ignition. Then, you seek medical help by calling the Emergency Medical System (EMS) hotline. During this situation, you should expect that bystanders will be curious and they will gather around. Some will just look but do not mind to help. But worst, take advantage to the victim’s condition. How to manage this situation? You, as a lay rescuer, can request the bystanders to provide some space for assessment and treatment. More so, you can ask also anyone to help you. Thus, the lay rescuer should also inform the crowd not to move the victim because it is a mistake to do. This can cause more injuries to the victim. Since these people are not trained personnel, they don’t have the know-how on transferring the victim safely. Instead, it is better to let the victim lie on the area, remove the helmet of the victim, assess his level of consciousness and finally, wait for the Emergency Response Unit to arrive.
Here are some tips in assessing the victim’s level of consciousness. Proceed at the victim’s side and start asking him what had happened. You may ask the victim about date, place or person. (E.g. What day is it? Where are you now? What is your name?) The level of consciousness can actually be determined by the appropriateness of verbal responses. If the person answers with coherent statement, we can conclude that the patient has a patent airway, good respiratory function, sufficient cerebral circulation and reasonable neurologic functioning. (National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and Trauma of the American College of Surgeon, 2007) By having this assessment, you may recognize whether the victim is in life-threating condition or not and you may provide possible treatment while waiting for the arrival of the EMS.