Poll question

Not giving any detail to why but what would you do.

You witness a car accident. One car rolls over. You go to assist and find a single person in the vehicle. They are alive but not awake/alert. You cannot ask them anything. You notice the fuel tank has ruptured and is leaking fuel through the vehicle.

You have no idea of any injuries to the person but there is a potential for a fire. You know if a fire breaks out it will engulf the vehicle quickly making removal of the person almost impossible.

Do you move the person to safety now or leave them in the vehicle?

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During the assessment did you see if the person was trapped or not.

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I dont want to throw too much detail on this. I will explain the situation after a handfull of votes and opinions get posted.

This did not happen to me and is not a part of a real story (that I know of).

But to answer your question, yes the situation was assessed, the person is alive but unresponsive and still inside the overturned vehicle but not entrapped by any means. Fuel is leaking into the interior of the vehicle.

Hope this helps some.

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If not trapped I would leave them at that point so as not to aggravate any injuries sustained already. If fire broke out I would get them out and away immediately.

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In this lawsuit, sue happy society it's hard to say what one should do.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
Do I know this person?
Can I drag them to a safe place and haullasz?
Yes to either one and then yes I would assist.

I'm curious to the reason behind the question....

180.

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kenmyfam said:

If not trapped I would leave them at that point so as not to aggravate any injuries sustained already. If fire broke out I would get them out and away immediately.

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Understood,, let me add a counter point to this. The longer you wait, the more fuel leaks into the vehicle, making the potential for the fire worse the longer you wait.

The longer you wait, the less chance you would have to get the person out.

******

However if you move them, you run the risk of aggravating an accident related injury (as you stated) or even potential legal/suit against you.

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Many years ago was apart of a situation like that one,there were 3 of us to pull one guy out, car was upside down could smell gas but did not see it we had already cut his seat belt when he woke up and he wanted out in a bad way so one held his neck and the other guy and I were on each shoulder got him out and got him away from the car

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I voted yes. The rule of thumb that we were taught in first aid. In a scenario like the one you described if the person is in immediate danger move the victim to safety and then start administering first aid. The victim was in immediate danger from the gas and possible fire. Its an assessment you have to make on scene as every scene is different.

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puddle jumper said:

I voted yes. The rule of thumb that we were taught in first aid. In a scenario like the one you described if the person is in immediate danger move the victim to safety and then start administering first aid. The victim was in immediate danger from the gas and possible fire. Its an assessment you have to make on seen as every seen is different.

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ditto, life over limb

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I'd do my best to contain any spilled/spilling fuel and try to eliminate any chance of igniting it. I wouldn't move anyone unless absolutely necessary and hope that the local medics are close by.

...Of course I'm writing this after thinking on it for a bit. In the heat of the moment my priorities might be different...

BOB

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I voted "yes" because I would think if I was on the scene and saw/viewed gas then my instinct would be to pull the person to safety. I suppose an argument could be made that if there's no spark to ignite the gas then the person isn't necessarily in imminent danger and one should wait for the EMTs/Cops/Firefighters to show up and handle it. But again, I would think your gut would tell you to get the person out.

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is there still a good samaritan law,that protects you from a law suit in a case like this?

woosterken

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I was a lifeguard many moons ago as a summer job. In my first aid training, I was taught to protect yourself first, then assess ALL POTENTIAL dangers, and think systematically minimizing the potential dangers to yourself first, and the victim second. Then do what you have to do to saves lives.

I don't know how many of you have pulled drowning/panicking people out of the water.... but if your not carefull a panicking person can drown the both of you. Much like in that movie "The Gaurdian", it was taught to us to punch, kick, do whatever you have to do to the victim if it helps enable you to protect your life, and save theirs.

I put my knee into a few peoples groins over the course of that summer.

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woosterken said:

is there still a good samaritan law,that protects you from a law suit in a case like this?

woosterken

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Exactly what I was thinking, I would probably remove the person using as much care as possible.

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How can one prove the injury was further caused by trying to remove /help some one out, [IMHO] The accident already made the damage to some one And if the person needs to get out because of a fire then think about it the accident PART is not done/over you are just still in stage one of the accident that more then likely made way more then most of the damage to you anyways But now you still need to move to stage too of the accident that might cause a little more movement and damage to some one, And that is to get the person out and cleared away from the accident seen, That will more then likely do some more damage to some one because the accident is not over yet. So I think the law suit thing is a big joke because well not to be mean about it but I could go on about it but I am to nice of a guy to say what I'm thinking right now But yes I would help out if needed And if I think I hurt the guy even more then I guess I would not hang around to talk to any body about what I had seen, Because it would just seem like all I did was add another bill to my life trying to help some one out. No thank you. That is just my feelings about some of the laws that we have to live by. Some times I think to my self who made this and this a law come on live a little.: ok rant over By the way I will not respond to any of this because if it is right or wrong to some one eles then I am sorry, But this is just MY feelings of it all.

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I would not move them. The risk of fire is not as great as you all think. The risk of a neck injury to the driver is more likely.

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TilliamWe said:

I would not move them. The risk of fire is not as great as you all think. The risk of a neck injury to the driver is more likely.

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My sentiments entirely.

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puddle jumper said:

I voted yes. The rule of thumb that we were taught in first aid. In a scenario like the one you described if the person is in immediate danger move the victim to safety and then start administering first aid. The victim was in immediate danger from the gas and possible fire. Its an assessment you have to make on scene as every scene is different.

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Sorry jumper, they are not in immediate danger of fire, cause there is no fire. Their immediate danger is whatever has caused them to be unconscious/unresponsive. The "risk" of fire is a secondary danger. Take whatever steps you can to minimize the chance of the fire (i.e. turn off the car!) and let the professionals move the victim.
And again if the car is upside down, and the fuel is leaking into the interior of the vehicle, the risk of a fire is VERY VERY VERY low.
(Have any of you actually tried to burn up a car? It's a long slow process. Measured in minutes, [several minutes] not seconds.)

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The good samaritian law protects you while "acting with in your ability and training".

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TilliamWe said:

Sorry jumper, they are not in immediate danger of fire, cause there is no fire. Their immediate danger is whatever has caused them to be unconscious/unresponsive. The "risk" of fire is a secondary danger. Take whatever steps you can to minimize the chance of the fire (i.e. turn off the car!) and let the professionals move the victim.
And again if the car is upside down, and the fuel is leaking into the interior of the vehicle, the risk of a fire is VERY VERY VERY low.
(Have any of you actually tried to burn up a car? It's a long slow process. Measured in minutes, [several minutes] not seconds.)

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What about the effects of gas fumes? I don,t know to many people who can breath very long in closed quarters with open gas present.

I guess the big problem with the original question is there is too many variables. Like are we down town in a city or out on a country road out of cell phone range with no one around.Is the gas just a minor drip or a large tare in the tank with fuel all over. As a auto teck i work with open fuel all of the time and know the dangers very well. I also saw a pass to crash race car burst into flames when the fuel cell burst (which was place into the trunk for safety).The inside of the car looked like a BBQ with a bad grease fire.

I agree that if the pro's are coming leave it up to them and just comfort the victim and minimize the danger the best you can.