As Sylv rightly points out in a separate thread, given the fact that on any weekend we might have in excess of 150 riders out at various club rides, races and sportives, accidents are an inevitable and we don't do too badly. But crashes ARE on an increase exponential to the growth of the club. So following on from last weekend's crash-fest which fortunately wasn't too serious and in light of the fact that I've just done a course involving accident-scene management, here are a few pointers as to how to behave in the event of a crash. You'll immediately notice that this is little more than common sense but its amazing how adrenaline kicks in at the scene and even the most basic safety measures go out the window.
This might seem like a little over exaggerating but believe me if you prepare for the worst case scenario - you hopefully can deal with a slightly less serious one effectively. And it was only a couple of years ago that I was stuck in the middle of an unfamiliar road, in mid-winter with two riders on the floor with broken collar bones (Monty and Paul Brown) one so severe that he couldn't get off his back, and that was when we had less than half the amount of riders out that we do now, so it happens.
Scenario:
Lets assume you're riding in a small group, there's the sound of a car skiding, tearing metal and screams of pain form behind you, you come to a halt and see Andrew Green, John Avery and Chris Kay lying on the road (you can add in your own favourite riders here
)Procedure:
1) Before you do anything else - make sure its safe to approach the injured parties. Even if there's blood pouring out of someone's head and they're screaming, don't run into the road to help if there's traffic zooming past at 50mph cos instead of 3 injured cyclists you risk the possibility of adding a 4th, you, to the list and putting yourself as one of the people able to offer assistance, out of the picture.
2) If you've got a couple of riders who haven't crashed - delegate one of them to organise a safe arera around the crash while you deal with it. That is, send a couple of them down the road to warn oncoming traffic if nescessary. There's no need to be histrionic and run into the road with your arms waving or you'll as likely cause another crash involving motorists. Just make drivers aware than there's an incident on the road and they'll slow down.
3) While they're doing that, you should be calling an ambulance first (then the police if nescessary) - if there's any blood or banged heads JUST CALL ONE. Don't wait to see if its serious enough. DO IT. Better still, get one of the others to do it while you check on the condition of any casualties - make sure the person calling knows a) the number for the ambulance (999 or 112) and b) where you are so the ambulance can find you. IMPORTANT Tell the person who's called one to confirm to you that it's been organised and its on its way - by the time the caller is on the phone to the ambulance service operator you should be able to give them a brief outline of how serious the incident is. If its just cuts and bruises they'll be a bit more relaxed and send either a car or a paramedic on a bike. If its a head injury they'll send an ambulance.
Remember the casualty is more than a little distressed here so don't shout out to the ambulance operator [size=150] "I've got a rider down, there's blood everywhere and I think his neck is broken and he's dying[/size]" that's only going to incite panic in him and everyone else. Keep calm, be measured in your description of whats going on: "We have a cycling crash with ??injured riders. Cars/no cars are involved. Casualties are consciouss/unconscious. There is bleeding from a head/arm/keg wound etc etc.
4) If at any point here one of the casualties slips into unconsciousness IMMEDIATELY call the ambulance service back and update them - don't think that because they're already on the way there's nothing more you can do, if the status of the casualty changes so does the response procedure of the emegency services - you can't give them too much info and the more info they have on arrival the quicker they can deal with it. If someone goes unconsciouss or stops breathing the ambulance alert goes form yellow to red and the sirens and lights come on.
5) Don't try and administer any first aid unless you have the training to do so - if a crowd of people gather some might feel helpless and that they should be doing something, anything to help. Pick the most responsible looking one, or better still someone from your own group to do 'crowd management' - making sure they don't close in on the injured riders, restrict space, make a slight injury worse etc. If someone steps forward and says they have first aid training, stand back and let them deal with it while you help out with the other riders.
6) There's not much you can do now til the Ambulance arrives except keep the injured riders reassured and warm if possible.
If other pedestrians/motorists are involved and you want to take names numbers of witnesses etc - then do so without upsetting/provoking anyone - drivers can get very 'defensive' at this point
One thing though - if its winter and freezing and you're in remote country lanes with several damaged bikes around - you're going to need transport for them. so while you're waiting for the ambulance, see if anyone has access to drivers and transport to recover the bikes. Don't wait for the ambulance to arrive cart everyone off to hospital and leave 3 people standing around with 6 bikes to get home before you deal with it - by this time you'll have been standing around for 45 minutes and already be freezing - you don't want to wait around in the cold for another 30 mins for someone to arrive to cart the bikes off. Alternatively if there are houses/farms nearby, explain to the owners what's happened and see if they'll let you store the damged bikes there for collection later.
And listen up Einstein - DON'T FORGET THEIR ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER
7) Chances are one of you gets a ride in the ambulance with the injured party(s) and you might be asked to call a wife/parent etc. Again make sure its a meausured response, tell them the facts as you know them and where the casualty is being taken - don't speculate on the extent of the injury if you don't know what it is - you don't want a hysterical husband/wife/mother driving to hospital at 90mph thinking its their last chance to see a loved one before he goes cleats-up when all it is is a broken finger. Chances are they'll cause a road crash which is genuinely serious
That's pretty much it apart from this:
Scared of calling an ambulance if you're not sure its serious enough? Don't be:
[size=150]You are not paid or qualified to deal with such situations - make it the problem of someone who is[/size]
Imagine a rider goes down, hits head, insisits he's only a bit shaken, minor cuts and bruises rides home cos its only a couple of miles. You don't bother with a 999 call
An hour later the guy dies from an internal head injury (awfull thought but it happens). You can't live with your conscious for the rest of your life and at the inquest you have to stand up in front of the jury and the guy's relatives to explain that you didn't call an ambulance because you didn't want to be 30 mins late home. How's that gonna feel for the rest of your life?
It's a fairly unlikely scenario but it happens. Don't take the risk. Ambulance drivers and paramadeics get paid to attend calls and sort things like this out - they like nothing more than attending and finding its not too serious after all so don't be afraid to call them. And in the event of insurance claims down the line you have some kind of record of the incident.
That's it - happy riding and I hope you never have to remember any of this in a time of crisis
