Anyways...I stopped and asked the lady "if a kid had been hit up by that bike." She said "NO" "it was a girl on rollerblades and she hit my car." I asked "if the kid was OK and if someone was helping her and if 911 had been called" but still for some reason I had 'kid hit on bike' in my mind because I saw a bike. This was regardless of what the lady had just told me.
Anyway she said "no she is not OK and she is alone and bleeding very badly and 911 was not yet called." At 1st I didn't realize how fooled my mind was at what I thought I saw and I was only concerned for the child's welfare on that bike so I ran up to the area and yelled back to the lady that "she had better not leave" because I thought she was looking to get back in her car. I mean why walk away from a person injured that badly right? Maybe she was retrieving her phone to call 911. NOT! I later found out she instead texted a friend to come quick and never dialed 911.
Anyway I ran up to where I saw the bike and there was a thin young lady somewhere around the age of 15 or 16 if I was guessing but it was dark. She was confused and bleeding very badly from her head. There were two pools of blood and one was pretty large so I knew she had tried to get up at least once. I ran up and she was kind of rocking back and forth as if she was trying to get up but she could not get her feet under her. I stopped her and told her "she had been hurt and to just lean back a little on my shoulder and chest and that help was on the way." I called 911 but the damn call would not go through the 1st time. It seemed like forever.
A 2nd person stopped and asked "if 911 had been called" and I said "I am trying and to please call because my phone was not getting through and I needed both hands." He replied "his phone was about to die" and yelled at the lady who hit her for not calling 911 yet because when he asked if she was calling from the phone she had she said no. I called again and it went through and I was able to put my phone away and use my Bluetooth why I tried to care for this person.
As I was dialing the girl kept repeating a number to dial her parents and I said "I would but 1st 911 needed to send an ambulance to help her" plus she was jumbling the last 4 numbers each time. She did not want 911 and wanted her parents badly but was so out of it she didn't realize what was happing and only could understand she could not get up but didn't know why. As 911 answered she insisted I hang up and not call and instead call her parents to come get her instead. I told another onlooker who arrived to "dial the number" she was now actually repeating. He did.
I looked at her and by then other cars were on scene with head lights blocking off the road so I could get a real good luck at her like the 911 person asked of me. She was a beautiful young lady of probably 18 or 19 and I thought she has her whole future ahead but was bleeding badly. I tried to stop the bleeding and to my amazement it kind of stopped pretty fast but it was a horrible site. I wont describe it but it was bad. I felt for her and was afraid she might bleed to death because the ambulance seemed like it was taking forever and the amount of blood was overwhelming me. It was likely not anywhere near as much blood as it looked like but to me it seemed like a lot.
I supported her body and neck the whole time and kept a finger on her pulse. My one hand was able to support her tiny neck and my fingers were able to reach around and rest on her artery to feel her pulse. I could feel it starting to increase more and more even though she did not seem agitated. I tried to support her head/neck and keep pressure when I could remember. I was worried she was going to bleed out or had lost to much blood and thought maybe her rapid heart rate was a cause of blood loss but what do I know about how much blood was there compared to how much she really has in her. I wanted to lay her down but was fearful that doing so may make her head start bleeding more or start bleeding again once it had kind of stopped. She then companied that "she needed to lean up just a little" so I reluctantly allowed it but kept a firm grip on her neck and head so it would not move.
She then reached up and was holding the side of her neck. She pulled her hands away and almost went into a panic at the amount of blood she saw. She became fearful and all I could do was tell her that she was going to be OK. Just then the ambulance was nearing and she said "is that for me?" I said "yes it is honey and you will be ok." She said "so did someone hit me?" I said "yes but not to worry about that right now and to focus on just staying awake and calm."
The EMS people got there and about 3 or 4 minuets later I started getting annoyed because they still had me supporting this girl and holding her head from moving at all while they looked her over. I was getting tired and my arm hurt like hell from holding her still. Finally the EMS guy next to me took over for me and I had a sense of relief. Then I almost started to cry. Not sure why I started to tear up but I thought to myself "how pretty and how sad." I hoped she would be ok. The girls dad showed up and was remarkably calm and I then became upset.. I would have been freaking out if it was my prize possession laying there in a pool of blood and could only imagine his horror. The ambulance took her away about 5 minuets later and she was kind of coherent by the time they left but she still did not know what happened.
Ok....Not sure why I told you fine folks all this. Maybe I just needed to get it out of my system. A beautiful young lady almost died and may not be out of the woods due to such a terrible head wound. We all know what can happen hours after a head wound where it seems the person might be ok. Please say a prayer that she will be OK. Please?
My question after all this is this....Do I have a right to call and check if she is ok and also do I have a right to get any info or inquire about any possibility that she may have transferred something to me through all that blood I had on me? I have cuts on my hands due to some work I am doing so I need to at least know if there is any risk. I did not even think of it until my family member mentioned the blood on me and to check for cuts. Do I have that right to ask and is it wrong of me to even ask about it at all?
Thanks for the help guys?
Under the Good Samaritan Law, as long as you don't exceed your training, you can not be held liable for any help you rendered. Everyone is considered to know basic stuff and so from your account, you are all right there. Only thing I might of done different is not move her spine as much until the ambulance got there. As a first responder who has worked a few things like this I realize how hard it is to make them be still.
Head injuries bleed a lot due to many small blood vessels close to the surface, doesn't take much of a cut to bleed a lot and a little blood will make a lot bigger puddle than you would imagine. Stopping bleeding and providing head/neck support was the proper thing to do. Of course calling 911 was the first thing to do and yes the woman in the car should have done that. There would be some liability on her part under the law whether the accident was her fault or not.
EMS will have you provide the head/neck restraint while they do the initial assessment. One reason is it is easier for them to do their thing if someone else is doing the grunt work, another is the switching can be critical if everyone is not careful, once they commit to holding, they are stuck also, and finally it's easier if someone else does it. ;) We've been told to grab bystanders to provide that so we could do other things.
Under the privacy laws the hospital will probably not be able to tell you anything about the girl. This is the pits as I have bundled several up over the years and sent them in never to know if they were recovered or not. At least many are folks I know around here so in those cases I can and do find out through other channels.
Since you had cuts on your hands etc, you should be able to at least find out if there is any cause for concern there. I believe there should be someone at the hospital that can at least tell you if you are in any danger of contracting something. Chances are you are not but I would find out for my own piece of mind. You might even get lucky and they might even manage to "leak" a little information about the girl.
Anyway, thanks for helping out, you very well might have saved her life.
Dave pretty much covered all. With a 911 run for accident, one must assume that the police also responded. Did they get your name as witness? If not, I would call to make sure they had my name. The parents will have access to that and probably would be grateful to know the identity of the man who was there for their daughter.
From your comments, the lady driving the car may have been doing a "Ted Kennedy" by texting a friend first instead of calling 911. Legal advice, establishing an alibi ("Some kid skated into the side of my car" as a txt msg), etc. Should there be any legal action, you as a witness that she was more concerned with her phone rather than calling for 911 might be very important.
If the hospital can't or won't assist you with your concerns about blood born contamination, as your own personal physician. He can get you tested for HIV and other common pathogens that are spread by blood contact.
jack
Yes the police got my info. They also said where she was being taken too but I can't remember where they said. By that point I looked down at my hands and saw all the blood so I was asking 1 of the 10 excess EMS/police/fire people standing around doing nothing to please get me something to wipe my hands off with. I was surprised at the amount of support that showed up. Response time seemed slow since there was a fire station about 2 miles away but it likely happened way faster than my mind was processing it.
David,
I know I should not have allowed her to move if at all possible but after she complained a 2nd time and said "I need to sit up a little because it hurts" I reluctantly allowed it. I figured it was better to do so rather than her forcefully doing it on her own. She only moved about 8 to 10 degrees upward and it was very slow because I was worried about her getting further injury. She did say something to the effect that moving that tiny amount relived the some of the pain in her neck which was hurting her really badly at that point because she was even holding her neck on one side after she sat upright
She was already sitting on her butt and trying to get up when I arrived and I just had her lean back into me a little to support her like a lazy boy chair because it was obvious there was no way she would be able to get to her feet. Even w/o those rollerblades she would not have been able to stand on her own IMO.
Normally I would think laying her down would have been best but I did not want to risk injury by moving her an entire 45 degrees onto concrete and I was fearful the head wound would begin gushing again.
With a head wound is it best to lay down or stay sitting in that case?
Anyway thanks for the info and I plan to call to find out where they took her so I can find out if she is ok. I sure hope she is.
Good job. Salagi and Jacks advice is perfect
Usually accidents are reported by local newspapers and they may have the girls name in article. Going to police may get you the condition and name of the girl
Hospital can probably answer your blood issues or do what Jack said and go to your family doctor
Good Samaritan laws pertain in most states. You did everything right so no worries there
Good luck and when you find out how the girl is let us know
The bleeding wasn't as much as you descried but she did fly about 15-20 feet in the air. I saw her getting hit at the corner of my mothers house as she crossed the street.
When the ambulance showed up, I had already checked her from head to toes because i happened to keep my medical bag in the car. They had me hold her head until we was stabalized her on the stretcher.
I would probably have left her sitting also since you were supporting her. Less movement the better in case of spinal injury and elevating a wound will help slow bleeding.Plus, they make a whole lot better patients the more comfortable they are.
Hammer's Link
Sorry it took so long for an update but I have little info at this point but I was able to obtain just a little more but not much.
1st, Here is a dinger. My eyes need to be checked because apparently she is 35 years old. I swear to GOD she was a young person no more than 20 tops but apparently not. She must just keep a very young face. Some people are that way. Either way her age is irrelevant I guess and she "is" alive. (thank god for that)... She is in "critical but stable condition."
Even the cops and EMS/fire recue thought she was a minor when I talked to them today. She had us all fooled I guess. The fire chief who was there called me today and said he thought she was a minor so my "risk of exposure to blood born pathogens would likely be pretty low due to her young age." He didn't realize how much older she was than we all thought either. I didn't find out until I saw the news report a few hours ago that she is 35 providing the report on her age is in fact accurate. When her dad showed up I remember thinking that her dad looked old to have a kid that young.
Ok here is another kicker. My mind or eyes or both did not quite fool me on the bike I saw after all. Today I had to go back to the rental home I have in that area where the accident occurred. I traveled the hour back over there and happen to drive the same route. There was a kids bike just like I thought believe it or not but it was about 200 yards before where the girl was struck and about 300 yards from where the lady stopped her car.
Someone had thrown it out near the road and the bike was damaged so that's why I thought it was a little kid being hit off a bike. The bike and then the stopped car ahead and then a body in between that I don't remember seeing must have tricked my mind. I must have seen her and didn't process it all correctly. I am relieved that my eyes did not totally trick me like I thought though. Not sure why I thought a kid was riding that bike but for some reason the bent up front wheel and flat tire on it must have made me think that.
Anyway I provided a link and my last amount of info I could obtain at this point. The cops and fire rescue people would NOT tell me her name or where they took her. I asked them why it was OK to tell me last night but now they cant today? Their response was "once they took position of her she became a patient and Hippa laws protect all info on her." They also said it is normal for people to forget that were in my position due to the chaos of the event. They apologized that they could not tell me what they had told me last night. Rrrrr is what I thought and felt.
I want to the hospital near by my rental home that I thought they mentioned but they could not find anything matching the timing of the intake so I was stumped.
I was told to just wait a few days until the police finish their report and then I can file a FOIA and get a copy of the report that way. The accident people painted up the road with bright orange paint and everything. Where she was and her blood and where the car stopped was all marked. If I do file a FOIA I will then need to decide whether I want to contact them or have the police do it for me but for now I guess I wait and decide. Maybe after a day or two it will wear off and I wont be so narrow minded.
My tenants 16 year old niece heard about the accident and when I told them I was there and looking to find out the persons name the kid was able to pull up a news report on it. It is in my link. Once or if I get more info on her condition if I even do I will let you folks know. For now she is "critical but stable"
Please keep her in your prayers. Head wounds can be bad news as swelling in the brain can complicate. I hope the good Lord can see fit to let her make a full recovery with as little discomfort as possible.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the help and accommodation for allowing me to decompress on this.
I agree the brain can trick us. I am just happy I was not seeing things with the bike. I always thought I stayed calm and observant but was questioning that when their was no bike last night. Had I went up the road a bit further I would have realized I wasn't crazy after all and I did see a bike. For a while I thought I was nutz. lol
I will talk to the doc at some point if I find no further info. Doing so now is pointless or at least I think it would be because if I was exposed it will take some time before it shows up in my blood. I guess I would need periodic blood test to check for anything. Only other option would be to get some kind of blanket treatment for everything under the sun and that aint gonna happen. lol
Hopefully I am just worried and overreacting over nothing. Part of this too is I would really like to know how she is doing. It would just be nice to know but I realize I may never know.
It is strange how it has occupied my thoughts. I do not know her and have no connection to her but I have some kind of weird concern for her wellbeing. Is that normal under these kinds of circumstances? It happened before too when I helped another women badly injured. It is strange.
Wondering how she is doing is natural as is having concern for her. She was YOUR responsibility for a while. I could name you some I have wondered how they came out that I worked on almost 20 years ago. Never knew if they lived or died. I believe it is the Chinese that believe (or used to) that if you saved someone's life, they were your responsibility for the rest of your life.
It is like after you get in a car wreck. You drive differently and overly cautious for a while and slowly that fades and auto pilot begins to take over again.
I did have a sense of relief when the news report said "critical but stable." Those are hopeful words and put much of my concern to rest.
It is doubtful that any further news reports will be made on that incident so we shall see if the well has run dry. If so then so be it and I wish her well.
Thanks for the info and chat David.
Too funny. My best buddies last name is the same as yours
He said they already told you and you just forgot so it's not like he would be giving me info I was not already told... lol.
I will update the tread 'if' I ever get the info.
Have a good weekend guys and be safe.
She is going to be ok but will have a long recovery. She had a nasty head wound and fractured her C1 vertebrae. She will need to wear a halo for 6 months but she is expected to make a full recovery.
I have not mentioned any of my concerns yet but when the timing is better I will.
Thank God she will be OK and thank God I paid attention enough to know to keep her neck and head still and as immobile as possible. I did allow her to sit up a few degrees but it was very slow and easy and I kept her head and neck as still and straight as possible.
It is good news to hear she will be OK.
Ironically, the worst accident I worked was after I left the squad. My cousin and I were on our way to an afternoon deer hunt when we drove up on the scene of an accident.
A truck driver wrecked off the side of the road trying to swerve around a school bus he neglected to see stopped. He drove off the shoulder, hit the embankment and a portion of the logs he was carrying to the mill went through his cab. He was so broken up, he was disfigured, and barely conscious. He was completely incoherent and mildly combative.
My cousin and I did what we could to calm him while EMS arrived. The fact that we were there and talking to him actually gave him something to focus on other than trying to get up and walk which all he wanted to do. That wasn't possible, though. Otherwise, we were of little help. Assess, monitor, comfort and (attempt) control until the ambulance showed.
He survived which pleasantly surprised me. He lost his right leg but I don't know what came of the dent in his head. I hope he retained all of his mental capacity.
You did a good thing Hammer. Don't freak out about getting things wrong or processing based on context. Processing can go askew in stressful situations. In the above accident, I remember getting really pissed that the trooper standing 10 yards away didn't do anything to help except walk over a few times and tell the man, "You really need to lay down, sir!"
I kept thinking, Where are the deputies? The deputies would be helping... The trooper was doing the best thing for everyone and that was bearing official witness. I knew better and should have recognized what was happening as it unfolded but, frankly, I thought everyone at the scene had written this guy off and left Tim and me to watch him die. Couldn't have been further from the truth but that is where I was in my head. Funny, too, how those misconceptions under stress say more about the script in one's own head versus the abilities in others' processing.
"Funny, too, how those misconceptions under stress say more about the script in one's own head versus the abilities in others' processing."
You got that right!
I was nearly overcome with excitement yesterday when I finally found out she was OK. Well she is not OK but alive and expected to recover and that is a wonderful thing.
The world is a mysterious place and social media can be a good thing at times. 20 years ago I would never have known the outcome but I guess young people in todays world read everything online and I was able to know what happened afterward by a kind person (her friend) letting me know.
I will say the reporting on this was wayyyyyyy off. She was not from anywhere near the town the articles claimed and she was in fact a young women just as I originally thought. Funny how wrong the media can be and how they just print it out w/o confirming facts. It made me think I was crazier than I already thought. However wrong it was or not it did serve a purpose though and for that I guess I shouldn't complain.
The sad part in these kinds of cases is many people do not survive these kinds of things and that is why I could never be in that line of work. I would loose someone and be devastated.
Kudos to those who take on the awesome task of being ER docs and EMS 1st responders. They are 1 of a kind.
The police called me and want a statement from me. Now I have no issue with giving them a complete statement. However is it wise to be too complete and mention that I allowed her to move and that I also assisted her while she did so? She broke her C1 vertebrae and needs surgery and already is wearing a Halo from what I have been told. I would hate for this to come back around full circle and some kind of blame to be placed on me for helping her and a claim that some kind of further damage was done when she moved. I am 99.9% sure there was no further damage because I was very, very careful to make sure. I moved her more gently, slowly and carefully than the EMS people did because I was worried but the difference is they had a neck brace on her when they moved her.
I of course have NO evidence this is or would be the case but just in case and due to how significant and specific her injury is what should I do if it comes up? I wont lie but should I refuse to answer questions about that part? Am I completely protected under Good Samaritan laws as long as I acted reasonably?
Just my luck I would get sued and then my computer would be confiscated and then they would see these postings and then I would be toast.
When my daughter was a cop she was the first on the scene of a truck/car accident. The trucker was closest to her but he said that he was ok and that she should check the other driver. When she got to him she said, "are you alright?" He looked up at her, closed his eyes and died in front of her. He was on his way to his daughter's wedding. That bothered my daughter for a very long time and the fact that she couldn't do anything to save the guy and watched him die.
When you give your statement make a comnplete accurate statement and don't leave or change ANYTHING.
First rule is do not harm and you did no harm. You helped stop the bleeding and she might be dead if you didn't.
As mentioned before, you are covered by good samaritan laws.
You may want to call a lawyer and ask a question, but you should be protected. Like Salagi, I was trained as a first responder and the Good Samaritan laws were explained to us the same as above. Your keeping her as calm as you did likely prevented further spine damage. Any head injury/trauma/confusion you can assume a neck injury and stabilize the head as best you can (the patient doesn't always agree).
Since your victim was young, your chance of disease is very low. HIV has a tiny percent chance. Things like hepatitis are higher so you should talk with a doctor tomorrow. If it is nothing, you can sleep easy. If there is a chance, they can start some things early. Go tomorrow.
Finally, you might want to take a first responder class now that you are a pro. Having the knowledge to know what to do for most emergencies, takes off a lot of stress when you come onto something like this. Having the knowledge to save a life works great around family gatherings also.
I have stopped many times, but the two that stand out were CPR on a friend (37 years old) who ended up dying and being the first on scene for a guy who committed suicide by stepping in front of a semi. The second thoughts and sleepless nights still happen, but knowing what to do is better than not knowing.
I am more than positive that the police want to question you on what you SAW not what you DID
I would not worry about it at all. Go in answer their question and then move on. Heck they may want you to come in to give you an award. Think positive
CT Crow,
I was not being paranoid per se as much as making sure I got educated a little just incase.
I gave my statement fully. All is fine now. I have nothing to worry about. I was told I did things "properly."
RK,
No award my friend and I wouldn't except it if they had tried. I just happened along and gave a helping hand. People that don't want to help have that right I guess but IMO it aint right not to help someone in need especially if you have taken some 1st aide and know a few basic's.
Amoebus,
I was not sure about the laying her down which is what I was going to do. My 1st reaction was to do so but then I changed my mind once I looked at her. I still am not sure but given the situation with her head wound and my suspicions surround her neck I felt it was best to keep her sitting up and just support her neck and make sure the bleeding didn't get out of control. I should take a class because it has been 25 years since I did and something more extreme may find me not knowing what to do. It was called 1st aid when I took the course 25 years ago. lol
You are right about the mind not shutting off after the fact. It is kind of consuming. I cant imagine how it would be if someone died. I can say now that I know she is on the mend that it has passed and I don't think about it to much.
The investigator kind of chuckled at me about the bike because she saw the same bike when she went to the scene that night and she thought a kid had been hit on the bike as well. She chuckled at me and said "well you were right that there was a bike there but it was pink and not red" lol....
The cops made a terrible blunder. One of them told this girls mom that it was a hit and run. That's a terrible thing to get wrong. I am not surprised though because there was at least 10 cops that showed up along with 2 fire rescue trucks and one ambulance. The cops and rescue people outnumbered the gawkers 5 to 1 lol
Anony Mouse's Link
See link.
I doubt if you have any worries, but according to this lawyer, laypeople are not specifically protected under Michigan's law. However, you did not do anything that would be considered unreasonable.
"...Layperson has no Immunity
It is important to understand that laypeople do not have immunity from injury liability under the Good Samaritan laws. If you are not a licensed medical professional, and you stop to help someone, you could still be liable for injury damages. However, the way the law is applied is different depending on the type of help you give.
If you perform CPR or use a defibrillator on someone whom you think needs it, that person would have to prove gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct if they were to sue you. However, if you perform a different kind of first aid treatment without a medical license, the person you helped would only have to prove regular negligence in an injury suit. In other words, they have to show that you did something "unreasonable" for a layperson to do, and what you did caused further harm.
To give an example, if you as a layperson come across a downed biker who clearly has a broken leg twisted in an unusual manner, and you attempt to set that leg, you could be held liable if you cause further damage to the biker's leg. This is because you do not have the necessary medical knowledge to set a broken leg, and the biker would have been better off if you had simply stopped to keep them as comfortable as possible until a qualified medical professional arrived on the scene..."
All the best...
jack
I am 99.9% sure that I am OK under the law at this point. The investigator told me I did things correctly and urged me to help again if I ever see an accident.
My only hope is I NEVER come upon another one so I wont have to help.
HA/KS's Link
An Arizona woman is searching for the good Samaritan she says helped save her life following a serious car accident in May.
Christina Sbraccia, 23, said the woman — who solely identified herself as “Renee” — pulled her to safety from her burning vehicle on Riggs Road and Val Vista Drive on May 28 in Gilbert, Ariz
“She rushed over to my side [and] she said, ‘I’m Renee, I’m going to help you but you need to stay still, you can’t move your spine or your neck,’” Sbraccia told the station.
I don't see anything wrong with what you did. As long as you are trying to support the neck, you work to get them in a comfortable position. With a head injury, the girl would have been confused and scared - sometimes they are combative.
The First Responder training is 40 hours with 8 (16?) hour refresher courses each year or two. But, basically we are taught to make sure the scene is safe, call 911, then keep the person alive until someone with medical training gets there. Your girl was awake and talking so the ABCs were taken care of. The blood is always scary, but it takes a LOT of blood loss to kill a person - like an arterial bleed. We were taught to assess the rest of the injuries on the person, but my experience showed that the EMT would repeat the same and the doctors would repeat again.
Keep them alive and do no additional damage - exactly what you did, Matt.
I did the same job as Salaji - get the basic training so that I could respond to emergencies at work. After each call that was serious, we would get together the day after to 'decompress' - just talk things over so that the worrying didn't consume you. Hopefully talking here has done a little of the same thing for you?
LOL. No that was not me. I only dress up in the month of March. I go by Mindy and not Renee.
What was the reason you posted that?
Amoebus,
Thanks man. I will look into it. Not sure why but gezzzz I role up on accidents every couple of years now. I must be a magnet for them. I can go w/o one for a good long time now.
1. It was a little similar to your experience in the Good Samaritan helped prevent further spine/neck injury.
2. I wanted you to see an example of how much the help means to the injured person.
10-4 my friend.
You know it did make me think a little that usually the victim is the one looking for the good Samaritan in most cases we hear about and not the other way around.
The time I helped another accident victim she went looking for me afterward. I wondered about her condition for weeks and then months and then presto.....out of the blue she found me. I was very pleased she was OK.
I am not sure what it was this time and why I just had to know if she was OK. Maybe I am just getting old.
Just a little interesting tidbit. The neck brace actually doesn't protect much against movement they tell us, not any more than the support you gave her. It's real help is it is supposed to keep the patient mindful of being still.
I think I have heard that before. Once on the back board she wasn't moving though because they taped her head down to the back board too.
One of her family members reached out to me but I have not heard from that family member in a couple days.. She was going to give me an update 2 days ago but I have not heard anything new other than "her C1 vertebrae was crushed." The accident investigator told me they recommended surgery but the patient had so far refused that option.
I also heard she was moved out of ICU into rehab. At least the immediate danger has past so that's a good thing but the recovery will suck.
I hope they do update me because when they do that is when I am going to inquire about the blood born stuff that 'may' have put me at risk. I don't want to ask but I need to. Even my doc recommended that I ask.
I was told by my doc that if I do not find out I will need to wait a while before being tested anyway because things like Hepatitis take up to 6 months to show up because your body needs time to produce antibodies for the blood to detect it. Either way in 3 months and 6 months I will likely get tested per docs recommendation no matter what I am told. Better to just be safe rather than sorry.
I put a pair of gloves in my car incase god forbid it ever happens again.
I guess I am at no serious risk of anything bad happening right now so she said it can wait until my apt next week Thursday. She did not seem overly concerned enough to get me in the day I spoke to her so I am assuming I am ok to wait until Thursday.
Would it matter? If I was already exposed several days before how will the vaccination then help? Wouldn't I need some kind of treatment instead?
I am not understanding any if this
Standard procedure to get that info to first responders and people like yourself. Always has been
Not correct from what I was told. I even called the police and EMTs and went to the hospital and it didn't matter that I was the one that helped her and was potentially exposed. The hipaa laws protect all her info. The fire chief told me even him and his guys often cant get info and need to take precautionary steps after potential exposure.
If you know a way that I can get info on her blood work then please let me know so it saves me the trouble of potentially pissing them off when I ask.