FIRST AID! a warning!

[CP]

Yesterday(Sat) I was driving my crop sprayer when I noticed a bloke riding his mountain bike long a bridleway. I didnt take much notice but as I worked my across the field I saw him fall off - he didnt move apart from I could just see his leg kick out.

When I got to him he wasnt breathing apart from the occasional gasp and I couldnt find a pulse.
This catapulted me into a scenario thats left me reeling and upset.
I phoned for help and set about administering mouth to mouth resusitation and heart massage. I fought for 15 or so mins to try and give him some chance.

To cut a long story short the bloke had suffered a massive heart attack. He never recovered and basically I was the last person to be with him. There was no-one else within a mile.

Whilst he was being loaded up into the ambulance, his wife and 2 teenage daughters arrived. They were absolutely devastated and watching them all follow the ambulance away was one of the worst scenes I have witnessed in my life. I couldnt help noticing the parrallels - he was about my age - he had 2 daughters the same age as mine. It was his wedding anniversary - mine was not long ago. I'm still coming to terms with it all. I didnt mind the dying bit - it was the afermath that I cant hack. I dont even know his name. For the first time in over 25 years I have cried

So what you say? Well I wanted to say this to you all for 2 reasons:

1. If you havent done one, get on a first aid course. Correctly administered first aid saves lives. You owe it to yourself and others to know what to do when the shit hits the fan. Someone might save your life one day.

2. Be smart - learn how your body works and live a healthy life or you too could be collapsing and dying before you get to see your sons and daughhters grow up etc. There is a consequence to how you live now whilst you are young - think on :!:

[Jules]

Well said and some very sound advice.

Hope you start to feel better about it soon m8.
:roll:

[Dare-devil]

Oohh :( i'm sad to here that m8. Hope you get better soon. :wink:

Thank's for the good advice.

[Dicko]

i payed ?80 for a 10 week pool lifeguard course. well worth doing!!

hope your ok CP mate

[Mark]

Very sorry to hear that CP.... :(

I spent 10 years with St John Ambulance and 2 year with the Plymouth Ambulance service before I moved to Bristol, as you say, I can cope with death quite easily, the problem comes when you allow your self to dwell, everyone is different, and everyone leads a different path....for example, my Grandfather is 92 years old and has smoked pipe, cigarettes and cigars since he was 16, has been dignosed with mild forms of cancer twice and overcome them both...My brother James died unexpetedly at 27 through cancer....Life has a twist at every corner..

And again sorry to hear what you went through, but BIGUP to your for helping, most could not or would not...

[Will]

sorry to hear that CP cant imagine what it was like. 1st Aid is a very good idea. Im 1st aid trained part of being a qualfied martial arts coach.

Hope your feeling ok m8

thought goes out to the family of the guy.

will

[locky]

Sorry 2 hear it CP!
There is no harm in crying either!
We all do it no matter how big or small we are! Its emotions!

[Fester]

shit thats bad

i wouldnt know what to do at all

[ade]

thats bad.

I think even if people had done 1st aid theyd probably freeze for a while before the adrenaline kicked in!

I've done 1st aid and a firemarshalls course through my work - invaluable

As for the healthy eating nit - I now feel suddenly very guilty - went for a swim this morning - 20 lengths of a BIG pool, came home and ate a massive fried breakfast! :o :oops: - had an orange after it though.

You just dont know - he could have had one of those inherrrited heart conditions - I always feel sick at the injustice of it when someone you think is fit, collapses and dies and then theres someone else who smoked 100 a day, drinks heavily and is an arse lives till their 90!

:roll:

[epo]

again sorry 2 hear bout that cp

i lost a gud mate 2 year ago he was 20 known him all my life very fit used 2 play a lot of football just before the start of the game he collapsed and had a heart attack still think about him alot
1 thing tho the church at his funeral was absolutly packed he had a hell of a lot of mates

[privatepie]

shit sorry 2 hear it m8
well dun 4 trying and doing ur best 2 save him

[Gobby]

Well done for trying to save him CP, it takes guts to do something like that.

It's worth knowing folks that if your work was over a certain amount of employees, they have to have an "appointed person" for first aid.

Courses are provided free of charge from some places, others charge, but it is worth it.

[Tilly]

Shit that is awful. I can see it from ur point charles.
ive got my first aid certificate and i have to know that stuff for the job im in.

well done for trying though

*big hug*

[CP]

Thanx for the support peeps - its helped a lot. I thought maybe I shudnt have posted but then I thought if it encourages 1 person to learn about first aid and stuff like heart disease risks etc then it would be worth it.

I realise I'm the lucky one cos I got up and walked away - he and his family havent got that priviledge. Even so I'm shocked how much its hit me - I wouldnt have expected to be so affected cos being a famer I've seen my share of death and shit like that.


I appreciate your help. cheers CP

[so1o]

sound advice mate, well done for trying though, 2 of my mates were caught up in an explosion when a room exploded that had industrial thinners inside it, they were running around on fire and no fuckin twat tried helping them until me and my other mates saw where they were. Luckily they both survived but you learn a great deal out of when something like that happens.

[Alex]

ive done a St john's abulance course a few years ago. i hope i don't ever need to use anything i learnt. Charles you did everything you could have done. Many people would have just frozen up

[sh0rty]

hey dont be like upset and stuff, (easier said than done i know) but you knew what you had to do and did it no problem! if it wasnt for you he'd have died having nooone with him, least u were there for him kinda thing.

ive done an emergency aid course for work, and ashamed to say i really cannot remember any of it, but ill be one of those people who reads this and does something about it
*gone to get her first aid book and read through it*

*keep smiling*

[krobinson]

I know how you feel mate.. My auntie died in middle age from cancer..

My dads a train driver, and altho this has happened before, someone threw themselves in front of his train late last year... he was devistated, altho its not my dads fault, he couldnt help feel guilty and saddened.. He was thinking more on the family and how it affected them...

The actual death isnt the hard part, its what it leaves behind!

All this stuff scares me, i've decided that once i get outta my shiftwork job and into a 9-5 i'm starting the swimming pool. And i'm already trying to eat more healthy.. no more KFC!!

Keith

[dave.gsi]

keeping healthy is only half the battle. after all this guy was out for a bike ride so couldn't have been that unhealthy.

when your time comes theres nothing you can do about it, theres a day for all of us. its just a case of how soon it comes

[wisewood]

You dont know what the guys general fitness level was, he may have been out on a bijke ride but might have been pushing far too hard for his fitness level and his heart just couldnt take it.

Sorry to hear about what happened Charles, must have been quite a traumatic experience seeing not only his death, but then his family - and being able to see the similarities between yourself and him.

Try not to dwell on it too much mate - get yourself on another first aid refresher course as soon as you feel up to it, just to make sure you are all tip top full on your knowledge and stick to your own advise and try to live a healthy life style.

I have, as some of you will know recently stopped smoking (3 months ago last friday) and am now eating much healthier - yesterday i had the first macdonalds i have had in a couple of months! There comes a point in everyones life when they realise that their body has to last them a very long time and not looking after it isnt a very clever idea. Some people realise this sooner than others.

I now eat reasonably healthy foods - dont smoke and only drink on special occasions, and even then its in moderation. Once christmas is out of the way and i am finishing work at a reasonable hour again I am gonna join the gym - and then might just go and do a first aid course!

Chin up CP mate, spend some time with your family and a bit less time on your own in the fields (difficulat i know) over the next few days and i'm sure you'll be fine mate!

[Will F]

Not good mate!

Really sorry to hear it.
I respect you for acting quickly. I can imagine many people in the same situation just panicking and getting in a real state. At least you tried and thats what you should think.

Although I think its very good advice to at least know the basics of first aid.

[Dave]

sorry to hear about that cp, hope you get over the shock soon.
first aid can be a very dodgy subject with todays blame culture you could save a persons life an still end up at the sharp edge of a court case, the last time i did a first aid course was probably at school so will be bookin up to go on one soon

[Ben]

Thats a horrible situation to be in.

When i had my accident it made a massive difference to me that the guy dealing with me knew first aid very well, it saved my finger.

[mowgli]

CP, you made the point about being a farmer, you should be used to that sort of thing, My whole family is in or around farming, and none of us have ever got used to it, you must remember that you had a bloody good go at saving him. By the way, I think that I should be getting on a 1st Aid course v. soon.

Keep the Faith
Mowgli

[roge]

sh1t, that is scary. sorry to hear it! guess when things like that happen it reminds you of your own mortality, the similarities make it even scarier. I was a member of st.John ambulance ppl, but i have forgotten everything i learned. I noticed my old St.Johns book was on the book shelf downstairs on monday night and thought about looking over it. this post has convinced me.

[CP]

Update:

Found out about him.
He was a local builder & 47 yrs old.
He had a minor heart scare some months back. He had been 18stone plus but had lost 6stone since the New Year so fair play to him - he was trying to sort it - hence the mountain biking I guess.
He had angina and there was a blocked vessel on 1 side of the heart which he was taking pills and a nasal/mouth spray as treatment for.
He was considered by his mates to be a walking time bomb.

There was prolly nothing I could do realistically although I cant stop feeling guilty about not getting there quick enough - I feel I dithered initially. Although most of me is pretty sure he was dead from when he fell off I will never be sure cos he seemed to be breathing spasmodically for way longer than I've ever seen anything else when dying - like 5+ mins? Still dont know what that was about. Thought might have been me stimulating summink with the mouth to mouth or heart massage. Raised my hopes a couple of times but there was never a pulse that I could find which I knew was bad and also I touched his eye and got nothing there as well. :(

I've been told by peeps that i will have to go to an inquest which will be a bit of an ordeal if all his family are there. Dont really know what to expect - anyone know? I've not seen a copper or anyone about it which seems strange?

[wisewood]

if i were you i would contact the police mate, or maybe even the crown court and ask someone about it as to what may or may not be expected of you as a result of all this.

I would have thought that there would be some sort of inquest to decide once and for all what had happened to him as he was alone in a field - except of course for you.

But then again the medical stuff may prove that he had a heart attack and thats all there was to it. :?

Chin up mate - you need a chat about it gimme a shout, always happy to listen.