As I was leaving school today I heard a pretty loud smack a few blocks away. Looked up and saw it was a car wreck, but only one car. I ran up there to see if there was anything I could do. It was unintentional but the whole time I was running I started running the steps of CPR through my head, even though I've never done it. When I got there a woman who was driving by had stopped as well, and I saw her crouching over a young boy of about 5 or 6. Fortunately, she was a nurse. I told her I was a CNA and asked what she needed help with, and she had me hold the boy still for a minute or two until he calmed down so he didn't move his neck. Fortunately he didn't break any bones, had only minor scrapes, but likely had a concussion because he took a very hard blow to the head. The car took his legs out from under him and his head hit on the hood. He was a tough little dude, stopped crying very quickly, followed directions, and was able to answer questions. The cops and medics were all super fast arriving, and we were only a couple miles from Children's Mercy South so hopefully everything ended up ok.
Now, there is no doubt the kid never should have been in the street. That being said, I have very serious doubts about the drivers story. She said she had just come over a hill and he was right there. The speed limit there is only 35, and despite what she said about just coming over a hill the crest was at least 30 yards away. I know that's not a lot, but at 35mph that's plenty of time to stop. The other reason I doubt her story is because the collision happened dead center on her car. With the distance and speed limit even if she wasn't able to stop she should have swerved at least some. I also did not hear the brake screech until after I heard the impact. I told all of this to the police, even though I didn't see the actual impact. I think it's worth checking her cell phone records at the very least. If she is lying then I hope really bad things happen to her. I can't imagine hitting a kid and being more worried about my own ass.
The other problem I saw was crowd control. Within just a couple minutes a small crowd had already gathered, moving in closer and closer to the kid. He's hurt, scared, and people need room to take care of him, the last thing he needs is a bunch of people standing over him gawking. Since I wasn't needed anymore to help hold him I started pushing some of the people back so the medics would have a clear path. One person thought it was appropriate to try and take a picture of this poor kids knot. I blew the rare fuse at that. I told him if he didn't put his *&^%$%^# camera up right now I was going to stick it up his ass. I could just see the kids picture on the internet later tonight with a stupid caption under it. Later on at the ER where I volunteer I saw one of the medics that heard me say it, he had a little fun with me over it but damn, did he laugh.
It was great to be able to get in and actually help, not just be another person in the way. Really hope the little man is ok but there's no way for me to find out. If nothing else, he'll be a hero the next few days in school.
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