Accident

Sorry for being a little jakun but today for the first time in my life I witness a collision accident. I had quite a busy day and was rushing off and waiting at the Piccadilly Garden platform for my volunteering at Reache. The tram to Altrinham started moving while I was still at the platform waiting for the next tram to Eccles. Then about 2 seconds later, I heard a long honk and the tram came to a complete stop. A few people were running across the rail and I asked a girl who was covering her mouth in shock what happened. She told me a guy was ran over and trapped under the tram. 'Goodness!', I thought. By that time there were a swarm of people surrounding the tram and I can see the poor guy's legs under the head of the tram, with the body and head facing the tram. I was not sure if he was alive them - to be honest I was dead scared for him as the way he was trapped looked pretty hopeless. The first thing I thought was - Have anyone rang 999? I saw the tram driver making calls, so I presumed he did. Then I contemplated on going forward and say 'I'm a second year medical student'. But he was still stuck underneath there and I guess the only thing I know, which is basic life support would not be much help then as I can't possibly get underneath. The emergency response was really good. Barely a few minutes after the collision, the police van came, followed by a paramedic in bicycle (as it is very difficult for ambulance to moving around quickly in the city centre). A minute later two police on horses came to control the crowd, and finally the fire engine arrived. By that time, the guy had already been safely pulled out of the underneath. I think he was alright. I saw him sitting up leaning against the tram before I headed off to the next tram platform. No blood, and he was conscious. He might have sustained some head injury and internal bleeding, but no immediate resuscitation was needed.

Witnessing accident really got me thinking. I have considered A&E as a speciality that I want to work in after I graduate, but would I be able to cope well with the patient assaulted by high impact, blunt penetrating injuries, bleeding and being in pain, dealing with uncertainty at the same time staying calm and make the decisions like cutting off a limb to preserve life? I think I would have gone forward and do CPR on him today if necessary but the real test comes when I am really faced with the situation. I thought about road safety as well. I am one of those who always run across the road or tram railing when I am not supposed to. Obviously we think we can beat the car or the tram, but sometimes we just can't judge them. Better to be safe than sorry. The tram involved in the accident was actually going really slow, yet still caused such a trauma. I will never run in front of a moving tram ever again. I also saw some ugly characters: Can you believe that some people were actually taking pictures of the guy trapped underneath the tram using digital cameras and mobile phones? That's just despicable!

And now, I need to finish my PBL work on bowel cancer and preparation for dissection for tomorrow. Too bad that I can't use the excuse of being a bit traumatised.