We pull up at the side of the road. Its the early hours of the morning so the traffic is light but the sky is not. We leave the blues lighting up our work space.
I survey the scene quickly.
A lamp post which previously stood at a point between the
slip road and the main road is now laying in the road. A police office is using cones to stop the traffic from sending it any further out of place. A central crash barrier has lines down it that where not there 30 minutes ago. Skid marks run from the felled lamp post to the barrier and across the road to the site of the
stationary car sat at an angle to the end of the slip road and the near side crash barrier.
The car has dents and marks down its offside as well as damage to its bonnet. Nothing too extensive or horrendous to make me think the
occupants would be badly injured. It doesn't look like it rolled and there are no '
bulls eye' marks on the windscreen to make me suspect the front passengers hit it from the inside.
I spy a young man sat on the crash barrier he has a w
orkman's jacket slung around his shoulders. There are extensive road works in the area and a friendly neighbourhood workman had heard the squeal of tyres and come over to help.
The young man was huddled against the cold of the early morning breeze looking down at his feet.
"Hi there, I'm Louise. I'm with the ambulance. Shall we get you into the warmth of the ambulance? Do you have any pain anywhere?"
He nods at my first question and shakes his head to the second. He opens his mouth to take deep breath. A distinct waft of alcohol escapes into the night air.
We get to the ambulance where I've asked my colleague to lay the long board on the trolley. Even though he isn't complaining of pain and the car appears to have little damage, its a fast road and any
collision happened at a speed of at least 50 mph, and that's a conservative estimate. As I explain what we are doing and why I get one word answers to questions. Each time he speaks another scent of stale sweetness fills the air.
"How old are you?"
"21"
"Have you been drinking tonight?"
"Yes"
"How much?"
"I'm not sure"
The police are outside clearing the scene making it safe for any other cars coming off the slip road. I explain that they will want to do a breath test. I pop my head out of the back to find out if they want to do it before I leave. They tell me the car with the kit is on another job. I invite them into the ambulance to have a chat with the patient so they can document themselves about his drinking. I can't tell them explicitly what he has told me due to confidentiality. Its a round about way of doing things but at least its on record with 2 sources.
The heater has been blasting into the ambulance for 20 minutes and our patient has stopped shivering. He is relaxing a little and telling me the information I need to complete the report form.
We are nearing Holy Hospital before he starts to talk about the nights events. I ask him where he lives and what he does.
"I'm a student"
"
Ok, what are you studying?"
"I'm in my 3rd year of a Law degree"
I take a deep breath and sigh "Well, this was very silly to do then wasn't it. Possibly just blown your career. Your lucky no one else was involved in the crash". I sound harsh, like a disappointed parent telling off a child. I know its not our place to pass judgement or to necessarily say these things but sometimes the words come out because they need to be heard.
He starts to try and justify it. He didn't plan to drink, the party he was at was flowing and his friends were having a good time. He didn't plan to drive home. He doesn't know what happened or why.
I point out that he had free will to say no to a drink or to get public transport home.
We all have choices and a lot of the time we know the possible consequences of our actions.
It doesn't matter how young, old, intelligent or stupid we might be. Whatever these consequences we are ultimately
responsible for our own actions.
Not enough people seem to understand this.
I survey the scene quickly.
A lamp post which previously stood at a point between the slip road and the main road is now laying in the road. A police office is using cones to stop the traffic from sending it any further out of place. A central crash barrier has lines down it that where not there 30 minutes ago. Skid marks run from the felled lamp post to the barrier and across the road to the site of the stationary car sat at an angle to the end of the slip road and the near side crash barrier.
The car has dents and marks down its offside as well as damage to its bonnet. Nothing too extensive or horrendous to make me think the occupants would be badly injured. It doesn't look like it rolled and there are no 'bulls eye' marks on the windscreen to make me suspect the front passengers hit it from the inside.
I spy a young man sat on the crash barrier he has a w orkman's jacket slung around his shoulders. There are extensive road works in the area and a friendly neighbourhood workman had heard the squeal of tyres and come over to help.
The young man was huddled against the cold of the early morning breeze looking down at his feet.
"Hi there, I'm Louise. I'm with the ambulance. Shall we get you into the warmth of the ambulance? Do you have any pain anywhere?"
He nods at my first question and shakes his head to the second. He opens his mouth to take deep breath. A distinct waft of alcohol escapes into the night air.
We get to the ambulance where I've asked my colleague to lay the long board on the trolley. Even though he isn't complaining of pain and the car appears to have little damage, its a fast road and any collision happened at a speed of at least 50 mph, and that's a conservative estimate. As I explain what we are doing and why I get one word answers to questions. Each time he speaks another scent of stale sweetness fills the air.
"How old are you?"
"21"
"Have you been drinking tonight?"
"Yes"
"How much?"
"I'm not sure"
The police are outside clearing the scene making it safe for any other cars coming off the slip road. I explain that they will want to do a breath test. I pop my head out of the back to find out if they want to do it before I leave. They tell me the car with the kit is on another job. I invite them into the ambulance to have a chat with the patient so they can document themselves about his drinking. I can't tell them explicitly what he has told me due to confidentiality. Its a round about way of doing things but at least its on record with 2 sources.
The heater has been blasting into the ambulance for 20 minutes and our patient has stopped shivering. He is relaxing a little and telling me the information I need to complete the report form.
We are nearing Holy Hospital before he starts to talk about the nights events. I ask him where he lives and what he does.
"I'm a student"
" Ok, what are you studying?"
"I'm in my 3rd year of a Law degree"
I take a deep breath and sigh "Well, this was very silly to do then wasn't it. Possibly just blown your career. Your lucky no one else was involved in the crash". I sound harsh, like a disappointed parent telling off a child. I know its not our place to pass judgement or to necessarily say these things but sometimes the words come out because they need to be heard.
He starts to try and justify it. He didn't plan to drink, the party he was at was flowing and his friends were having a good time. He didn't plan to drive home. He doesn't know what happened or why.
I point out that he had free will to say no to a drink or to get public transport home.
We all have choices and a lot of the time we know the possible consequences of our actions.
It doesn't matter how young, old, intelligent or stupid we might be. Whatever these consequences we are ultimately responsible for our own actions.
Not enough people seem to understand this.