On the famous Route 66 this afternoon, a bicyclist sure got his kicks... he was hit by a pickup truck. Lots of folks stopped, didn't see anyone with a cellphone, tho. Action News was coming down the hill in the opposite direction. Everyone hovering, no one calling 9-1-1.

I can't believe how long it took me to get through! When someone finally answered, I had a choice of "medical" or "legal" emergency. I chose medical and they had to transfer me AGAIN! I sat on hold (yes, hold) and finally got a dispatcher to send an ambulance out.

Please pray for this guy. I have no idea how long he was down, but it's about 95 degrees here, and it's rush hour on Route 66, so I'm sure it was even hotter for him down on the asphalt.

Thanks.

Prayers just said for him & vibes sent. Hope he'll be okay...

I hope the por man will be ok.
What are they doing ? Having a number that will ask you if the emrgency is legal or medical? Obviously there are legal emergencies that need to be taken care of in about just as much time as it takes to maybe safe a human beings life.

i've never heard of a 911 LEGAL emergency...

"HELP! I need to depose someone but they won't let me in!"

Then again, maybe you should have said LEGAL when they asked, since an ambulance chaser would've gotten you 10 units to respond, and gotten the number of that truck!

I know, isn't it weird? Maybe "legal" would be things like domestic abuse where you need a cop instead of an ambulance?

Nothing was on the local news last night I hope the guy's ok. Sure took long enough for the fire dept to answer after the dispatch guy transferred me!

My roommate told me the road was still closed 2-1/2 hours later, she was detoured on her way home last night.

good for you, Terrie...

maybe meant police or medical... but saying legal is bad weird...

Your call is very important to us, please select one of the following options:

press one for a truck vs. car accident

press two for a car vs. moose accident.

press three for a bicycle vs. armadillo accident

press four for and old silver haired lady driving a Caddilac with her directional signal on for the past 24 miles about to have an accident

All other accidents, please hold for the next available operator....(cue the elevator music)

Larry, exactly what it felt like yesterday. How upsetting! This guy was lying on the hot paving between lanes in 95 degree weather! With vehicle exhaust all around. And there's absolutely NO shade! Haven't found out anything yet... Action News wrote back that they didn't cover the story... and they were THERE!

Part of the problem is the way we teach people how to respond to emergencies and accidents here in the U.S.

Most of the general population don't have rudimentary first aid training let alone training in CPR.

I Germany it is a legal requirement for the first people on the scene of an accident to render assistance to the best of their abilities and training. All automobiles and trucks are required by law to have viable first aid kits. And if you drive past an accident scene without assisting it is a felony! Unless the police and emergency personnel or first responders are on location and indicate it is safe to continue on.

I'm a retired firefighter; I view things diferently from the general population. Also I'm a recreational bicyclist, I would dare say 90% of the general population and drivers opon the roadways don't even know traffic rules which apply to bicyclists as well as vehicle operators.

As for legal, fire or medical emergency, and needing to be transferred by dispatchers, thats pathetic. In my district I' just as often was able to call the FD directly and avoid the E911 stupidity, thankfully I had a small region of responsibility.

In order to make your drivers licence, over here you have to attend to a first aid course. Like SFC_Q wrote you are obliged to help.
I heard, that in the US if a doctor comes to an accident or somebody just passing out or whatever, he should not help, cause if that person dies he will be facing a law suit? Is that true?

It did happen in some places, years ago, after which many/most/all (I don't know which) states passed "Good Samaritan" laws that protect people from lawsuits when they've stopped to help, whether they're doctors or lay people. We can take CPR training on a voluntary basis at my office; I've taken it but it's time for me to take a refresher course--thanks for the reminder!

although there are good samaritan laws, you'll find many doctors will still avoid lending a direct hand in an emergency situation, since they are professionals, and not lay-people, they have concern that the good samaritan law will not cover their liability... and more importantly, in my experience, doctors make lousy first responders as they rarely have first-aid training. Only those who have specialized in ER/EMT training are worth having around in the first few minutes after an accident.

I spent some 22 or 23 years as a volunteer firefighter and rescue squad member.We were always informed that " good Samaratin" laws were written and/or interpreted in such a way to limit liabilty on a scale depending on a persons level of training for the emergency involved.
For example, myself as a trained firefighter and first responder would have somewhat more liability than a layperson, but less than a paramedic, nurse or doctor. Even without training, a passerby that offers no help of any kind could be charged with some sort of abandonment charge.

I can just imagine cops chasing everyone who didn't stop at an accident scene to charge them with some kind of abandonment. Like they have nothing else to do. Thankfully, enough people CARE enough to stop without needing a negative incentive.

I always thought that if I saw someone, especially a child whose parents might not recognize it, having an allergic reaction/anaphylactic shock, I would administer EpiPen automatically. I wouldn't care about liability. To me, it would be worth the risk to save the child. I stop at accidents both to offer assistance medically (if I can), and to be a witness if needed. Not enough "good samaritans" around... I just call it "being human."

I ran into one of these events just last week, be it on a smaller scale.
I'm driving home after work, and on the side of the road, I see an 85 year old man, and a 5 foot nothing 100 pound Indian women trying to help right an 85 year old 250 pound women whose little lightweight transport wheelchair had fallen over backwards as her 85 year old husband was pushing her up a slightly bumpy incline where the sidewalk met a driveway. I pulled across the street into a parking lot 150 feet away, and dodged a few cars to cross the street to help.Of course they were getting nowhere in lifting her, so my 250 pounds came in helpful as I was able too get her rightside up. The poor women had bumped the back of her head in the fall, but was very happy to be rightside up again. Communication was very difficult, because I think the old couple were speaking Polish, and almost the only English I got out of them was "thank you". With that, I communicated in some way for hubby to put an icepack on her head when they got home, a few hundred yards away in an apartment complex. The small lady that stopped to help had her car right at the scene and offered to drive them the few hundred remaining yards home, which she did.
I gave her a smile and a "Namaste", and we all lived happily ever after.........so far.