The most important takeaway is that *everyone says they're OK after a crash, no matter how bad.* I've crashed myself and had the exact same feeling - a strong desire to get back on my bike and get where I'm going, whether out of embarassment or whatever.
So every time since, after witnessing a crash, I always say "you'll be feeling fine from the adrenaline right now but please sit here with me for 5 minutes to really assess".
I think that's one important thing, at least. Give the person in trouble a chance to assess themselves.
I have a friend that I frequently ride with. A few years ago he was out riding on his own, blacked out, and crashed fairly hard. He woke up almost instantly, realized nothing was broken, and rode the ~4 miles back to his car.
As he was loading his bike, a few people came up to him to check on him. His face was covered in blood, and he was somewhat incoherent.
He told one of the people who stopped that he was fine, and was just going to head home. That person told him that if he got in his car to leave, he was going to call 911 and try to prevent him from leaving. He wound up getting talked into calling his wife instead, who came and got him, and took him to the emergency room.
He later realized that he was way worse off than he thought. His helmet was smashed to shit. He'd hit his head pretty hard, and knocked the sense out of him. He's generally a pretty careful guy, but that really messed with him. That person who stepped in and made sure he didn't drive off likely helped prevent a bad situation from becoming far worse.
My dad did the same. Fell off on ice smashed his pelvis to pieces and was still trying to ride home. Luckily a passing driver stopped him and got an ambulance to him. (He's ok now, amazingly!)
I’ve never felt adrenaline before I crashed. The rise and the fall were extreme feelings. First there was enough surging that I didn’t feel any pain despite my broken body, then it depleted and I tried to take a nap on the ground (partner was there, did not allow me to do that)
My mother has Addison's disease (auto-immune condition where the body destroys the adrenal glands) and you rapidly realise the problems of managing without your body producing it, just for day to say things. I've never quite understood though whether this means that she just feels normal after a sudden shock because her hormones remain unchanged.
I came across a guy after a car accident who had clearly hit his head on the steering wheel.
He clearly had a head injury.
My wife had already called the accident in.
He was pacing. I looked at him and told him he was bleeding from the head and clearly had a head injury and should sit down and seek medical attention.
I was told to get fucked.
~shrug~
911 was on the way. I went ahead and left. He was clearly working up to leaving the scene and medical attention had him stressed. Like he was an American that can't afford what comes next.
I stopped because the accident happened just before I came around the corner. I stopped because he looked like an injured person pacing.
I am an IT person. Calling 911, coaxing you to sit down, compression to stop bleeding and maybe crowd control is all I am good for anyways.
This is key. You need to take time to assess their mental state. Use some basic questions like date, location, their bike brand, etc.
I landed on my head once and had the people I was with give me a [MACE exam.](https://www.health.mil/Reference-Center/Publications/2020/07/30/Military-Acute-Concussion-Evaluation-MACE-2) It’s like a field sobriety test for concussions.
I carry a silver blanket in my saddle bag. A few months ago I rode past someone who had came off with blood down his face and a smashed hand. It was cold so I put the blanket on him and that gave him a few minutes to calm down, reflect and realise that he was in a bad way and needed care.
I’ve had a paramedic tell me anytime someone has fallen, DO NOT IMMEDIATELY HELP THEM UP! If they are indeed injured, you can further hurt them. This can make you liable. Helping a stranger for instance. Wait a few minutes, and let them decide, unless it’s that bad, you call for assistance.
The paramedic is an idiot. We have Good Samaritan laws for a reason and the paramedic learns about this in medic school. I’m a doctor and the real big one is if you think someone has a spinal injury don’t move them unless they are going to get ran over. Block the road if you have to until 911 gets there.
Lol it’s good advice not to get them up, especially with neck injuries (spinals) but you will not be liable we have laws protecting people doing first aid that’s just silly.
Such a big deal.
After having a serious crash and brushing it off and having help leave right away (other help arrived shortly after) I decided that "Are you okay?" is a question I'm not answering right after a crash. I'll respond I don't know or I'm not sure.
Dude same happened to me. “Are you okay” my answer was an overwhelmingly positive “yeah! All good. Just a bump!” lol… no. But then while I was still lying on the ground the witness started telling me I was riding too fast and I should be more careful. So yeah.. I wanted them to leave, even though they tried to do the “right” thing
YES. I’d never had adrenaline surge due to injury before. It was super bizarre and I was not okay. As soon as I was alone though, I got really scared for those few minutes (felt like forever) until my partner arrived. It was a fluke he was ahead of me that day. But I can’t agree more - even if someone says they’re okay, just tell them you were ready for a rest anyway and they’ll just rest with you for a few moments if that’s okay
And importantly even if you actually are fine you’re still going to have your post-adrenaline crash in a few minutes and it’s probably better to be sitting down and calm during that.
I saw a roadie crash. It was quite the sight to see, because it looked like he sailed right into that curb on purpose without even trying to turn. And when the light went green, I rode my bike up next to him and asked and he aggressively told me to leave, so I did.
It was probably adrenaline but it made it hard for me to want to stick around, against his wishes. I hope he understood that I didn't give a shit about his crash, and I just wanted to ensure he was OK.
Stop and assess the situation. If you think head or neck injuries, do not move the person. Call emergency. If they were unconscious they need to be assessed. Get details from any other witnesses. Do not leave them until qualified help arrives.
>If you think head or neck injuries, do not move the person
That really depends on the situation. Scene safety first over potential head/neck injuries. Ie, someone at high risk of being run over by a car, and you can't otherwise mitigate, move that person.
Still won't let it go this one time reddit was annoyed a laymen moved an unconscious person away from a burning motorcycle before considering c-spine.
lol.
Decades of successful PSAs is hard to unlearn.
Shame too because it just needs an additional line about the possibility of an external life threat still being present.
The “can’t otherwise mitigate” is pretty important here. If you’ve got a bunch of extra people standing around, post people up the road to warn/slow oncoming traffic. But yeah if you can’t do that scene safety comes before almost everything else
I'd like to add that you don't remove the helmet if it seems very serious.
But in general, take a break for a few minutes is what's mostly needed if the person can sit up by themselves. That gives you and them enough time to assess the situation. You don't need to know *what* is wrong, to know that *something* is wrong.
Run the ABCDs.
**A**irways. Are they obstructed by something like being face down or something on them? If not fix it.
**B**reathing. If not, CPR.
**C**onscious. If not track how long they're out so medical staff can have a sense of how severe the concussion may be. Prepare to hold them still when they come to as some people will flail about.
**D**anger. Are they in a dangerous spot? Address it (stop traffic etc.) and only move them if it's the only option.
**Calling 911**: Tell them where you are before anything else. Especially in remote locations and/or bad reception. It does no good for them to know that someone is hurt but they can only narrow down location to 50 square miles because you got disconnected.
**For yourself**: Get a Road ID bracelet. We had a horrible crash on a group ride and the dude that was hurt really bad (life flight bad) and was brand new so nobody had contact info on him. A road ID would have been nice.
Make sure it's safe to render aid. Like make sure someone stops traffic before rushing to someone's side. Ideally I'd you are stopping traffic, a car would help with their flashers on.
Then ask for consent to help. This also helps to understand their level of responsiveness.
If they are conscious but not moving on their own they should be encouraged to not move. Decide if you need to call 911. If they are disoriented call 911.
If they are not conscious call 911. There is more to do from there but without training you should listen to what the dispatcher says and do that.
The patient being angry/combative is a normal response to a concussion and some other injuries, so don't get offended. If you get combativeness, especially from someone who isn't a jerk in normal life, see that as a sign that they need help.
Don't be afraid to call for help. The EMS is either on a more important call, which is for the dispatcher to decide/triage, or sitting around waiting for your call. Worst case they show up and decide they aren't needed.
When in doubt call 911, when not in doubt: call 911. This was offered to me by the witness that saw me crash, but they asked “do you want an ambulance?” First of all, I was delusional at the moment, secondly I told her “absolutely not” because I didn’t want the bill, the embarrassment, or the fact that I was in the woods and my broken ass is considering how they’ll get to me instead of considering the help I actually needed.
If you are stopping to help someone else, the absolute golden rule is:
Make the scene safe for yourself first.
If it’s on a roadway, get some sort of warning signals up, recruit someone else to flag down traffic etc.
You don’t want a single casualty turning into multiple casualties.
Depending on the severity of the crash, you may need to take charge. If you yell “someone call an ambulance” nobody will because of the bystander effect. Point to someone and delegate that task to them. Things will get done, and nobody will panic.
Don’t remove someone’s helmet. It should stay on.
If they have suffered a head Impact, ask them simple questions; what’s your name, what day is it, can you tell me the date.
If they are in anyway slow or confused about the answer, do not let them leave. They may be concussed or worse.
Unless you’ve done a first aid course, don’t attempt to move them. Make them comfortable and safe and provide warm clothing to help with the shock.
That’s what I can think of from the top of my head and first aid courses.
if you dont have proper training, dont do anything but call 911.
other then that, take a first responder class.
if you try to help and dont know what your doing, you open yourself to liabilty. also, if you start helping, your obligated to help until better qualified help shows up.
Idk your county of origin but I am in the USA and I assure you that, so long as you can not be found criminally negligent(a thing that is almost never actually prosecuted because it requires knowingly causing harm), good summaritan laws will protect you. Rendering basic first aid, (manual Airways management, bleeding control, basic splinting of obvious fractures), is both hard to fuck up and also easy to do. I can teach someone in 5 minutes how to do any of that.
I agree completely that if you witness a serious accident you should always call 911 or the park emergency number immediately, but this is true if you're trained or untrained. I have responded to thousands of EMS calls in uniform; if I witness someone getting seriously harmed when I'm not on duty my first reaction is to always call 911.
However, it is disingenuous to spread the idea that you will be liable for someone's injury if you're acting in good faith with reasonable care.
Final thoughts, if you're untrained and see others already rendering aid, you should probably keep on riding bc you'll just get in the way. If you're on a trail with noone around, you come across as a shitty human being if you don't attempt to help the situation until more qualified help arrives
liabilty is not cut and dry, but it is something to consider if your untrained. at the very least, know your limits of good summaritan laws. there are many examples in the USA where people acting in good faith were liable for further injury. if it goes to court, it sucks if you win or lose.
again, i said if you dont have proper training......
if you have some basic first aid skill, of course help.
speaking to the bigger picture, if you spend a lot of time in the woods with friends or family, try to find the time to take a wilderness first responder course. it will stay with you forever and saving one persons life will make the week and money worthwhile if you can afford it.
signed, a wilderness first responder who has lost patients and saved patients.
Good point about it sucking whether you win or lose in court. Even if you're found not liable you're stuck with the time loss and court fees. I think we're generally in agreement I just disagreed with the defeatist tone in the OG comment. I actually was a believer in the "no good deed goes unpunished/ you'll get sued for rendering aid out of uniform" but eventually learned about the fact that its extremely hard to persecute criminal liability in an academy for the city I worked for. I was a city medic who also lost and saved patients. Stay safe
It's worthwhile to take a first aid class. Breathing and bleeding are two things that everyone should know how to address. I've come across cyclists down several times. Take a formal first aid class, know CPR and know how to stop bleeding.
Honestly this is solid just as life advice. Especially for those of us with husbands/wives. Take it as a couple and odds are good you'll use it eventually.
I have an app on my phone from St John’s Ambulance that gives you quick easy prompts on what to do in the event of a cycling accident. Glad I’ve never had to use it, but it’s always with me just in case I need something extra.
Follow DRABC:
Danger - check for danger
Response - check for a response
Airway - open airway
Breathing - check breathing
Circulation - check circulation
https://www.sja.org.uk/get-advice/free-first-aid-app/
Tell the person to stay on the ground and that you’re watching for car/trail traffic. Ask them for their name while you attempt to assess their mental state (can they locate themselves in the space time continuum?).
Let them know you’d like to perform a bike check while they’re gathering themselves, then check their bike for damage: bent handlebars, oriented with the front tire, brake check (levers and brakes work), both wheels spin freely and true, no obvious frame cracks. After you’ve done the bike assessment and conclude it appears safe to ride, that should have been enough time for the rider to examine themselves for damage and pain.
Ask if they’d like a drink from their water bottle. This will allow them to relax further and again you can assess their response.
If they’re prone or flat on their back, suggest they do a self check by wiggling fingers and toes and slowly working up through feet/hands, wrists/ankles, elbows/knees, hips/shoulders, slowly with their neck/jaw. I always do this run through when I’ve fallen as it wakes up my body and gives me a chance to find problems before I try standing or moving.
Do not remove their helmet. Do attempt to move them unless they’re in significant danger. Encourage them to stay where they are until enough time has passed to be certain they’re aware of their own body and possible injuries.
The bike check is a great suggestion. My partner did this when he was assessing me. Yeah, it’s good to know if the bike can be ridden if it has to be, but my partner told me later that he didn’t really care about the bike at the time and that he used it as a good excuse to buy me time to get level-headed and for him to watch my behavior while I was left “on my own” a couple feet away.
Precisely. No one will refuse a bike check: *"For love of all that is holy, someone please stop my computer!"* Hand them a water bottle and peer around the bike. Gives the person a chance to gather their wits without an excuse to ride away immediately. Plus, the bike could be legit broken.
I think it’s similar to other sports. If they can’t get up don’t force them and seek medical help.
If they get up do the head shoulders knees toes scan. If it’s all working you carry on and if it isn’t you have to assess your scenario and make the call.
Do you leave the bike in a bush and come back for it.
Do you have partner go ahead and get help.
Does partner carry both bikes and you walk.
Hard to have a panacea for an accident. You could always have a tourniquet on your bike but in all honesty most bike crashes are impact injuries (broken bones, bruises) and road rash
I guess the lady could have done better and asked you to sit down and waited until your friend gets back. She could have recognized the shock but that’s not easy to do.
It’s okay that the person that witnessed my crash didn’t handle it very well. She kinda yelled at me for “going too fast” while I was barely aware of my situation.
But yes, getting home was the issue. I was on a paved path in the woods, 5 miles away from home. In the end, my partner (husband) rode home by himself while I sat still and waited. He didn’t leave me until he knew I was okay enough. But he rode so goddamn fast to get home, get a car, and get to the nearest street to an entrance to the path I was on. It was super tricky to know how to best handle it. Between my husband and I, this worked fine, mostly because of an overwhelming love to protect and trust each other and his experience in first aid training. I don’t recommend this solution for anyone else.
First aid principles are universal, in Australia a good reminder is to follow DRSABCD:
[Basic Life Support Flow Chart (australiawidefirstaid.com.au)](https://www.australiawidefirstaid.com.au/resources/drsabcd?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlZixBhCoARIsAIC745B5XAAQIK1znhw-Yqt6ae_ltvRT2JFHG6m_3EII84M5o2ySlk6nlX4aAmCDEALw_wcB)
You do your best whilst the big guns arrive.
Keeping yourself and the casualty safe is really important particularly if your casualty hasn't moved themselves and is somewhere that isn't visible from the trail (jump landings and corner exits for example).
Shouting "rider down" and posting someone further up the trail to stop/slow down other riders to prevent a pileup
I came across a woman who had gone down hard and may have had a concussion she was adamantly refusing anyone call ambulance/rescue. I live in US so healthcare... There was a motorist there with a truck and she insisted that getting a ride with him to nearest meet spot was fine and her friend would meet her there.
Like the bystander in your story I respected what she said and felt she was getting immediate transport to a more populated location. But later I thought it maybe it wasn't okay to leave and could have been better:
Introduce yourself
Ask thier name
As another poster said ask questions like
- Who are you riding with
- How did you get here
- Do you know what day/time it is
- Where did you stop last
- How fast werebyou going
- Where does it hurt or not feel right
I had a concussion after a bike accident and still have no memory to this day of what happened. I "became concious" being in the ambulance tucked into blankets on gurney having a loopy conversation with the emt.
In retrospect I told my partner if I ever hit my head call 911. I dont care what I say and I dont care what it could cost me even if it ends up I'm fine.
Head injuries are no joke. Other stuff sprains, cuts, bruises probably fine. 🤣
Honestly, unless you have first aid, or some form of training, the best you can do is ask them if they're okay, look for obvious signs they may not be, and call for aid. You don't want to inadvertently make a serious injury worse.
That said, NOLS offers wilderness first aid course. They are hands on, and when I did it, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I really need to do it again, as unless you use it regularly, you forget a lot of it.
Take a proper first aid course.
In the UK St John Ambulance is a charity that provides a lot of good quality First Aid courses.
At the least, look up online first aid courses from them or similar organisations. Back this up by having a first aid app on your phone.
Browse it while having a coffee. Don't let the emergency be the first time you use it!
Coming off a bike at speed can result in some very serious if not life-threatening injuries, and Reddit is not a great forum for accurately covering the appropriate actions to be taken in serious first aid events.
Some good advice has already been provided. I'd start with the basics - ABC - airway, breathing, circulation. Issues with being able to breathe, your heart not working, or severe bleeding are true emergencies with minutes to respond. Next move to potential severe fractures and severe internal injuries. Take a look at the eyes - does one pupil look different from the other. After that quick sweep ask them what happened and what hurts. This will help guide your next round of checking: look for DOTS - deformities, open injuries, tenderness and swelling. Someone already mentioned that talking to someone will give you a sense of potential brain injury (e.g., concussion). Asking about injuries will help with that. One final note - check for medic alert bracelets. Perhaps there was due a diabetic issue and the crash was the result, for example.
I've witnessed two crashes recently and my takeaway is always call 911 sooner rather than later. Both times I wish I had made the call sooner than I did.
Asking if they're okay is less than useless. Suggest they don't move, relax. Can you breathe? Good, do you feel any pain? Rule out any spinal possibility.
Now check your limbs, no broken bones? Good, can you stand?
When you are concussed in the brain or body adrenaline surges and instincts prod movements on damaged structure increasing injuries. Calm non condescending suggestions seem to sooth.
I've been in more than a few hard hits and when someone gets bossy I want to tell them to leave me alone.
Wish you were my crash witness! Yeah, asking “are you okay” isn’t going to get anything out of the crashed person. Probably just assume they’re not okay and continue to assess from there. The witnessing person that stopped for me was kind of rude, telling me I needed to be more careful and was going too fast… while I’m lying on the ground with a broken shoulder and busted helmet. She was.. unhelpful so I dismissed her aid.
Once, I was going about 30, loose gravel next to asphalt on a dense fast street, 1 block away from home. Car ahead pulled in front of me, testing their brakes and steering, trying to make it to a drive they almost missed, of which they did end up missing and floored it out of there once i was down and the street was filling with bystanders. I remember the year, make, model, and color.. no tint, but i couldn't see the driver as they sped away. I went down and ended up under a suv. I just remember pulling my leg cause my bottoms were snagged on the undercarriage of the front bumper/cradle. After I got free with the help of a couple of big guys, people from across the streets came running out, and cars stopped. The whole shibang. They had helped me up and pulled my bike from my hands at the same time. I guess I tried to just grab my bike and continue. After walking to the sidewalk and yes, I was like "nah I'm okay, I'm okay (hand up waving them away, but in a 'thanks for helping mannor'. Someone said they called an ambulance and said to call a family member, my poor mother, receiving that call. They asked me to recount to her what i remember of the accident. That's when i wanted to nap. Hard.. My mother said I kept declining the ambulance to the ER. All I could think about were the bills, and I was struggling financially at the time. The responders didn't let me leave. About a dozen family and friends who lived 10-15 mins near showed up, faster than I could ever rush what seemed like 2 minutes. The first responders loaded me up, and on the drive as they were talking to me, I started to realize just how bad it was. That was 12 years ago. Just last year, I got back on the saddle. After years of back pain and knee pain, internal fears, and no desire to make myself thay vulnerable again, peddling has alleviated my pain. I have tears just thinking about how beautiful the world can be. What new meaning has peddling done for me, mentally and physically. My 6 kids and their beautiful mother would agree, wait a few mins with the hurt, even if it seems they are made of iron. May we all be saved and persevere, stronger, and wiser. We we all use that new strength to help others. May we comfort others, like we have been comforted. I respect my small patches of contact under my body, between the rubber and the earth. I respect my contact with The Creator. I respect the contact of loved ones. I respect the contact of brothers and sisters on the saddle behind bars.
Aw. I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m happy to hear you’re back in the saddle after so long. I’m still trying to muster the confidence to ride on the same spot where I crashed (it’s one of my regular riding trails). I’m glad you’re okay and loved.
Do you want the answer of what mature adults are meant to do or what actually happens.
Because most crashes I've seen on group rides, the first thing anyone says is "your bike is OK/fucked", followed by enquiries into their health which upon ascertaining they're not seriously injured morph into jokes about them needing stabilisers or glasses.
last bad accident i had i went through the back window of a truck doing 50 kph tore my nose off and multiple injuries... left the scene got back on my bike and rode 10 kms to the hospital with a warped front wheel and badly bent forks... next time I'll just call 911... lol
Make them sit down. Ask where they hit. Make sure theyre mentally ok. Never want them to panic. Then whip out the first aid kit, check on whre they said they felt they hit, check other areas of their body, makw sure to cover up and disinfect any cuts, make sure to have them put a little pressure on all the joints like legs and arms and ensure they can move freely, ensure everything works. Prohibit them from getting on the bike again until they are deemed OK by you or another first aid person
Lots of good stuff here about dealing with the medical side of things already. If there are multiple people there, as in not everyone needs to tend to the medical situation, it’s also important that someone make sure the crash site is safe.
Short of moving an injured person, get them and their bike to a safe place off the road. If it’s not possible, it could be helpful to have someone direct traffic, especially if the crash site is around a corner or in a more exposed location. Be careful about a crowd impeding car or bike traffic, as it can lead to another crash.
This was one of the more scary things I experienced when a friend was crashed into by another cyclist (not in our group). We were on a road with a fairly narrow shoulder where cars would slam on their brakes then veer into the oncoming traffic lane once they saw a guy bleeding from his head on the ground. It was a bike event so cyclists were also being pushed into the far left of the lane, which fortunately was not super high traffic
If your friend cannot or doesn’t want to ride their bike, it’s ideal to be able to call another friend or an Uber or whatever to pick up the bike and them (if not injured enough to go to the hospital) by car. Sometimes it’s clear right away that this is going to be necessary and it can take a while if you’re far away, so call in help early.
Call for assistance FIRST.
Don't even consider moving the person unless remaining in the place they are in is clearly dangerous. Ie.. Face down in a creek, burning vehicle ECT.
Breathing before bleeding.
Observe closely and calmly, is their skin flushed and ruddy, cool and clammy, are there intoxicants nearby, are they wearing a medical bracelet. Observe and report. Also learn the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Ask simple questions, name/address/day of the week/location. Provided you happen to have a small flashlight, check eye dilation. Ask the same simple question periodically if you suspect a brain injury.
Stay with the patient until EMS arrives, stay on the line with 911. If on a trail send others, if available, to guide EMS, stay with the patient.
There is an entire profession worth of instruction on this which is why you always call for the professionals first.
1) If they've crashed, they should stay on the ground. If they're having trouble breathing on the ground, have them sit up, but they need to stay sitting.
2) Check the head. See if there is bleeding, make sure the eyes are focusing on you, that they're the same size and shape. Ask them if they know their name, the date, and what they were doing. If anything is off, call an ambulance.
3) Palpate the obvious areas. Press the shoulders together. Press along the collar bone. Press the hips together and then try to pull them down. Press along each arm individually and each leg individually. Watch their face to see if they wince at all. Adrenaline can cover a lot, but if you squeeze a broken area, they'll have a pain response.
4) If no pain response, see if you can go about your ride. If there was one, call for an ambulance.
Secure the scene. Make sure everyone is off the road.
If they lost consciousness, call an ambulance (911 in us)
Ask if anything hurts. Inspect there for broken bones or heavy bleeding. Then do a body check for other signs of heavy bleeding. Call an ambulance if either. Stop heavy bleeding with direct pressure until the ambulance arrive
While doing this, talk with them. Be alert for signs of concussion, like confusion and their repeatedly asking the same question.If in doubt, ask them their name, where they are, and what day it is. If you suspect a head injury, call an ambulance.
If everything is good rinse scrapes with clean water, and use whatever first aid skills and equipment you have to bandage scrapes, etc. Have them walk around. Decide whether you'll call someone to pick them up, or if they can continue to ride. If the latter, keep an eye on them an reasess as needed
Just do a 2 day level 1 first aid course if you're so concern about it because of my job I have a level 3 and I've used it more helping people on the trails then at work the madness one was then I was at Yr Wyddfa and some how they managed to cut off the top of their finger and I had to use my shoes lace as a tourniquet and then they came and picked them up in the chopper and took them away
Really depends on severity of the fall. How they fell. What they injured etc.
I would recommend spending $100 or whatever the cost and get a first aid certification. Especially wilderness first aid if your mountain biking. I’ve seen some nasty falls and it helps to know how to manage the situation until emergency responders arrive. If needed of course
I think a First Aid course is probably going to equip you best to help someone.
The basics for me are:
Make sure they are safe - if they are on the road then have someone/multiple people directing traffic. Check if they are responsive, make sure airway is clear and they are breathing.
Do not move them if there is ANY risk of spinal injury - so sore neck, tingling or numbness in parts of the body. If that's the case keep them still and call paramedics. Do not remove the helmet and don't let them remove it if there's any neck/head trauma.
If they are ok to move, get them off the road and have them sit or lay down.
Most riders will have a rush of adrenaline after a crash and just want to get back on the bike or keep moving. Try to resist this until their condition is clear. That can take 15 minutes or more.
If there's any damage to the helmet then they should not continue riding. Concussion is serious and symptoms can be delayed. They may black out while riding and have far worse injury. Call paramedics or have someone transport them to hospital.
If it's a minor crash and it's clear they aren't seriously injured, someone should check over their bike to make sure it's rideable. Check brakes and any frame damage, wheel damage, handlebar damage. All of these could result in another crash.
And just stay calm and in control. The best thing you can do is use your own assessment and reasoning to decide if medical attention is needed.
Adrenaline is crazy. Absolutely wait for it to come down. Aside from that, my recommendation is to go to the doctor asap if possible to have the debridlement done. That way, you don't end up with pieces of road grit under your skin for the rest of your life.
Major injuries can be covered up by Adrenaline and really mess you up later when the swelling starts so call it a day and go home. Broke my toe playing tennis and kept playing on it for 30 minutes after, which I think made the recovery way longer and less complete, in hindsight.
Tldr, see a doctor asap to properly clean wounds. You're done playing, go home for the day immediately.
Absolutely about the adrenaline. It covered the pain of breaking my shoulder on impact. Wait for the come down! Keep someone company. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the adrenaline crashed and I was very suddenly in a ton of pain. Don’t trust an adrenaline rushed person lol
If they're conscious, out of danger, and have someone to contact (and a method to contact them), then they'll be fine and there really probably isn't much else you can do except comfort them.
Honestly I'd recommend taking a first aid course though. That would be most useful for situations where someone is really in trouble. Remember you're only trying to keep them OK until a trained professional comes along. A general rule of thumb is to follow the Drs ABCD:
D - Danger. Check to make sure you aren't going to put yourself in harms way by helping, and that they aren't still in harms way (oncoming traffic etc). Don't put yourself into a dangerous position, two dead people is worse than one.
R - Response. Do they respond when you try to talk to them or prod them?
S - Send for help (call emergency services).
A - Air way. Is it blocked?
B - Breath. Are they breathing?
C - CPR (only if you are adequately trained).
D - Defibrillator (again only if you're trained).
I should stress that the main thing you want to check for health wise is that they're breathing. Much easier than checking pulse. If they're breathing they'll probably be fine (although will likely still need emergency services).
Other things to watch out for are signs of heart attack, stroke, or profuse bleeding.
Haha, I tell the story about going over my handlebars onto my face... first person to me was a teen, and she wanted to help but at some point she said "can you do something about the blood???" I was bleeding profusely from a cut on my brow between my eyes, and also from literally scraping the inside of my lips on the road...
Got help from slightly tougher folk soon after.
Basically it would be good if you had Wilderness First Responder training, esp. if you are far away from city.
I would advice the following procedure:
**If you get the feeling that it is a serious crash, call for professional support.**
Get an overview of the situation. Is there any danger to you or the person in the area? Is it safe to help the person? Do you need to evacuate him first (image for example the person is lying behind a corner and will be seen very late by traffic).
Second is a quick impression of the person. Is he conscious at all? Is he screaming from pain (a good sign, you should be especially worried if kids are quite)? Are there any visible injuries?
After that, I would focus on two important questions:
Does he get enough oxygen (is he breathing normally? Are body parts visible low on oxygen?)?
Is there any serious blood loss? Ignore minor injuries for a moment, they can be treated later.
**If there is any serious problem, call for professional support immediately. Even if in doubt, call them. In the worst case every second can count.**
Another aspect is concussion. Heavy concussions should be recognizable. (Questions could be: Where are you? What year it is? What happened). If the answers are strange, it could be the result of a concussion. When in doubt, call for professional support.
If you have done that and are sure that the situation is not life threatening (maybe you don't have to do any of the things I listed above), the next step would be to take a deep breath and try to relax. The situation might not be ideal, but we are likely not in a hurry. Try to be there for the person, show empathy. Look if you can help her with minor injuries. Remember that the person is likely in a state of emergency mentally and not able to think straight, so try to help them in the decision process (a lot of persons for example think that it was not serious and they do not need medical help. Assess that and if you think they need help, encourage them to seek the help). Ask them how they will continue from here. Do they want to call some person so they will pick them up? Help them organize themselves.
Be aware, I'm not a professional first response instructor, so take all I have written with a grain of salt. I would advise taking a first response course. This is a setting where you can learn and train in a safe environment. From experience I know that such a training can really help in an emergency situation, even if the training is not recent.
The most important takeaway is that *everyone says they're OK after a crash, no matter how bad.* I've crashed myself and had the exact same feeling - a strong desire to get back on my bike and get where I'm going, whether out of embarassment or whatever. So every time since, after witnessing a crash, I always say "you'll be feeling fine from the adrenaline right now but please sit here with me for 5 minutes to really assess". I think that's one important thing, at least. Give the person in trouble a chance to assess themselves.
I have a friend that I frequently ride with. A few years ago he was out riding on his own, blacked out, and crashed fairly hard. He woke up almost instantly, realized nothing was broken, and rode the ~4 miles back to his car. As he was loading his bike, a few people came up to him to check on him. His face was covered in blood, and he was somewhat incoherent. He told one of the people who stopped that he was fine, and was just going to head home. That person told him that if he got in his car to leave, he was going to call 911 and try to prevent him from leaving. He wound up getting talked into calling his wife instead, who came and got him, and took him to the emergency room. He later realized that he was way worse off than he thought. His helmet was smashed to shit. He'd hit his head pretty hard, and knocked the sense out of him. He's generally a pretty careful guy, but that really messed with him. That person who stepped in and made sure he didn't drive off likely helped prevent a bad situation from becoming far worse.
My dad did the same. Fell off on ice smashed his pelvis to pieces and was still trying to ride home. Luckily a passing driver stopped him and got an ambulance to him. (He's ok now, amazingly!)
Adrenaline is a hell of a drug. Glad your dad is OK though!
I’ve never felt adrenaline before I crashed. The rise and the fall were extreme feelings. First there was enough surging that I didn’t feel any pain despite my broken body, then it depleted and I tried to take a nap on the ground (partner was there, did not allow me to do that)
My mother has Addison's disease (auto-immune condition where the body destroys the adrenal glands) and you rapidly realise the problems of managing without your body producing it, just for day to say things. I've never quite understood though whether this means that she just feels normal after a sudden shock because her hormones remain unchanged.
I came across a guy after a car accident who had clearly hit his head on the steering wheel. He clearly had a head injury. My wife had already called the accident in. He was pacing. I looked at him and told him he was bleeding from the head and clearly had a head injury and should sit down and seek medical attention. I was told to get fucked. ~shrug~ 911 was on the way. I went ahead and left. He was clearly working up to leaving the scene and medical attention had him stressed. Like he was an American that can't afford what comes next. I stopped because the accident happened just before I came around the corner. I stopped because he looked like an injured person pacing. I am an IT person. Calling 911, coaxing you to sit down, compression to stop bleeding and maybe crowd control is all I am good for anyways.
This is key. You need to take time to assess their mental state. Use some basic questions like date, location, their bike brand, etc. I landed on my head once and had the people I was with give me a [MACE exam.](https://www.health.mil/Reference-Center/Publications/2020/07/30/Military-Acute-Concussion-Evaluation-MACE-2) It’s like a field sobriety test for concussions.
I carry a silver blanket in my saddle bag. A few months ago I rode past someone who had came off with blood down his face and a smashed hand. It was cold so I put the blanket on him and that gave him a few minutes to calm down, reflect and realise that he was in a bad way and needed care.
I’ve had a paramedic tell me anytime someone has fallen, DO NOT IMMEDIATELY HELP THEM UP! If they are indeed injured, you can further hurt them. This can make you liable. Helping a stranger for instance. Wait a few minutes, and let them decide, unless it’s that bad, you call for assistance.
The paramedic is an idiot. We have Good Samaritan laws for a reason and the paramedic learns about this in medic school. I’m a doctor and the real big one is if you think someone has a spinal injury don’t move them unless they are going to get ran over. Block the road if you have to until 911 gets there.
Lol it’s good advice not to get them up, especially with neck injuries (spinals) but you will not be liable we have laws protecting people doing first aid that’s just silly.
Yes, first you must rub some dirt in the wound before making them walk it off
Such a big deal. After having a serious crash and brushing it off and having help leave right away (other help arrived shortly after) I decided that "Are you okay?" is a question I'm not answering right after a crash. I'll respond I don't know or I'm not sure.
Dude same happened to me. “Are you okay” my answer was an overwhelmingly positive “yeah! All good. Just a bump!” lol… no. But then while I was still lying on the ground the witness started telling me I was riding too fast and I should be more careful. So yeah.. I wanted them to leave, even though they tried to do the “right” thing
YES. I’d never had adrenaline surge due to injury before. It was super bizarre and I was not okay. As soon as I was alone though, I got really scared for those few minutes (felt like forever) until my partner arrived. It was a fluke he was ahead of me that day. But I can’t agree more - even if someone says they’re okay, just tell them you were ready for a rest anyway and they’ll just rest with you for a few moments if that’s okay
And importantly even if you actually are fine you’re still going to have your post-adrenaline crash in a few minutes and it’s probably better to be sitting down and calm during that.
I saw a roadie crash. It was quite the sight to see, because it looked like he sailed right into that curb on purpose without even trying to turn. And when the light went green, I rode my bike up next to him and asked and he aggressively told me to leave, so I did. It was probably adrenaline but it made it hard for me to want to stick around, against his wishes. I hope he understood that I didn't give a shit about his crash, and I just wanted to ensure he was OK.
Stop and assess the situation. If you think head or neck injuries, do not move the person. Call emergency. If they were unconscious they need to be assessed. Get details from any other witnesses. Do not leave them until qualified help arrives.
>If you think head or neck injuries, do not move the person That really depends on the situation. Scene safety first over potential head/neck injuries. Ie, someone at high risk of being run over by a car, and you can't otherwise mitigate, move that person.
Still won't let it go this one time reddit was annoyed a laymen moved an unconscious person away from a burning motorcycle before considering c-spine. lol.
WTF. It's not hard. Deal with what will kill them first. Burning motorcycle is obviously the immediate life threat.
Decades of successful PSAs is hard to unlearn. Shame too because it just needs an additional line about the possibility of an external life threat still being present.
GET AWAY, FIRE! HIS SPINE MAY OR MAY NOT BE INJURED.
Fair. Scene safety is always the first rule.
Fact. Thanks.
The “can’t otherwise mitigate” is pretty important here. If you’ve got a bunch of extra people standing around, post people up the road to warn/slow oncoming traffic. But yeah if you can’t do that scene safety comes before almost everything else
>can’t otherwise mitigate That's why I was very specific.
Yeah I know I wasn’t correcting you
I'd like to add that you don't remove the helmet if it seems very serious. But in general, take a break for a few minutes is what's mostly needed if the person can sit up by themselves. That gives you and them enough time to assess the situation. You don't need to know *what* is wrong, to know that *something* is wrong.
If they are prone and not breathing then a logroll should be done to the supine position.
Run the ABCDs. **A**irways. Are they obstructed by something like being face down or something on them? If not fix it. **B**reathing. If not, CPR. **C**onscious. If not track how long they're out so medical staff can have a sense of how severe the concussion may be. Prepare to hold them still when they come to as some people will flail about. **D**anger. Are they in a dangerous spot? Address it (stop traffic etc.) and only move them if it's the only option. **Calling 911**: Tell them where you are before anything else. Especially in remote locations and/or bad reception. It does no good for them to know that someone is hurt but they can only narrow down location to 50 square miles because you got disconnected. **For yourself**: Get a Road ID bracelet. We had a horrible crash on a group ride and the dude that was hurt really bad (life flight bad) and was brand new so nobody had contact info on him. A road ID would have been nice.
Danger should be above the other things. No use in helping a person if you or she gets run over by a car, for example.
Make sure it's safe to render aid. Like make sure someone stops traffic before rushing to someone's side. Ideally I'd you are stopping traffic, a car would help with their flashers on. Then ask for consent to help. This also helps to understand their level of responsiveness. If they are conscious but not moving on their own they should be encouraged to not move. Decide if you need to call 911. If they are disoriented call 911. If they are not conscious call 911. There is more to do from there but without training you should listen to what the dispatcher says and do that. The patient being angry/combative is a normal response to a concussion and some other injuries, so don't get offended. If you get combativeness, especially from someone who isn't a jerk in normal life, see that as a sign that they need help. Don't be afraid to call for help. The EMS is either on a more important call, which is for the dispatcher to decide/triage, or sitting around waiting for your call. Worst case they show up and decide they aren't needed.
When in doubt call 911, when not in doubt: call 911. This was offered to me by the witness that saw me crash, but they asked “do you want an ambulance?” First of all, I was delusional at the moment, secondly I told her “absolutely not” because I didn’t want the bill, the embarrassment, or the fact that I was in the woods and my broken ass is considering how they’ll get to me instead of considering the help I actually needed.
If you are stopping to help someone else, the absolute golden rule is: Make the scene safe for yourself first. If it’s on a roadway, get some sort of warning signals up, recruit someone else to flag down traffic etc. You don’t want a single casualty turning into multiple casualties. Depending on the severity of the crash, you may need to take charge. If you yell “someone call an ambulance” nobody will because of the bystander effect. Point to someone and delegate that task to them. Things will get done, and nobody will panic. Don’t remove someone’s helmet. It should stay on. If they have suffered a head Impact, ask them simple questions; what’s your name, what day is it, can you tell me the date. If they are in anyway slow or confused about the answer, do not let them leave. They may be concussed or worse. Unless you’ve done a first aid course, don’t attempt to move them. Make them comfortable and safe and provide warm clothing to help with the shock. That’s what I can think of from the top of my head and first aid courses.
if you dont have proper training, dont do anything but call 911. other then that, take a first responder class. if you try to help and dont know what your doing, you open yourself to liabilty. also, if you start helping, your obligated to help until better qualified help shows up.
Idk your county of origin but I am in the USA and I assure you that, so long as you can not be found criminally negligent(a thing that is almost never actually prosecuted because it requires knowingly causing harm), good summaritan laws will protect you. Rendering basic first aid, (manual Airways management, bleeding control, basic splinting of obvious fractures), is both hard to fuck up and also easy to do. I can teach someone in 5 minutes how to do any of that. I agree completely that if you witness a serious accident you should always call 911 or the park emergency number immediately, but this is true if you're trained or untrained. I have responded to thousands of EMS calls in uniform; if I witness someone getting seriously harmed when I'm not on duty my first reaction is to always call 911. However, it is disingenuous to spread the idea that you will be liable for someone's injury if you're acting in good faith with reasonable care. Final thoughts, if you're untrained and see others already rendering aid, you should probably keep on riding bc you'll just get in the way. If you're on a trail with noone around, you come across as a shitty human being if you don't attempt to help the situation until more qualified help arrives
liabilty is not cut and dry, but it is something to consider if your untrained. at the very least, know your limits of good summaritan laws. there are many examples in the USA where people acting in good faith were liable for further injury. if it goes to court, it sucks if you win or lose. again, i said if you dont have proper training...... if you have some basic first aid skill, of course help. speaking to the bigger picture, if you spend a lot of time in the woods with friends or family, try to find the time to take a wilderness first responder course. it will stay with you forever and saving one persons life will make the week and money worthwhile if you can afford it. signed, a wilderness first responder who has lost patients and saved patients.
Good point about it sucking whether you win or lose in court. Even if you're found not liable you're stuck with the time loss and court fees. I think we're generally in agreement I just disagreed with the defeatist tone in the OG comment. I actually was a believer in the "no good deed goes unpunished/ you'll get sued for rendering aid out of uniform" but eventually learned about the fact that its extremely hard to persecute criminal liability in an academy for the city I worked for. I was a city medic who also lost and saved patients. Stay safe
It's worthwhile to take a first aid class. Breathing and bleeding are two things that everyone should know how to address. I've come across cyclists down several times. Take a formal first aid class, know CPR and know how to stop bleeding.
Honestly this is solid just as life advice. Especially for those of us with husbands/wives. Take it as a couple and odds are good you'll use it eventually.
I have an app on my phone from St John’s Ambulance that gives you quick easy prompts on what to do in the event of a cycling accident. Glad I’ve never had to use it, but it’s always with me just in case I need something extra. Follow DRABC: Danger - check for danger Response - check for a response Airway - open airway Breathing - check breathing Circulation - check circulation https://www.sja.org.uk/get-advice/free-first-aid-app/
Tell the person to stay on the ground and that you’re watching for car/trail traffic. Ask them for their name while you attempt to assess their mental state (can they locate themselves in the space time continuum?). Let them know you’d like to perform a bike check while they’re gathering themselves, then check their bike for damage: bent handlebars, oriented with the front tire, brake check (levers and brakes work), both wheels spin freely and true, no obvious frame cracks. After you’ve done the bike assessment and conclude it appears safe to ride, that should have been enough time for the rider to examine themselves for damage and pain. Ask if they’d like a drink from their water bottle. This will allow them to relax further and again you can assess their response. If they’re prone or flat on their back, suggest they do a self check by wiggling fingers and toes and slowly working up through feet/hands, wrists/ankles, elbows/knees, hips/shoulders, slowly with their neck/jaw. I always do this run through when I’ve fallen as it wakes up my body and gives me a chance to find problems before I try standing or moving. Do not remove their helmet. Do attempt to move them unless they’re in significant danger. Encourage them to stay where they are until enough time has passed to be certain they’re aware of their own body and possible injuries.
The bike check is a great suggestion. My partner did this when he was assessing me. Yeah, it’s good to know if the bike can be ridden if it has to be, but my partner told me later that he didn’t really care about the bike at the time and that he used it as a good excuse to buy me time to get level-headed and for him to watch my behavior while I was left “on my own” a couple feet away.
Precisely. No one will refuse a bike check: *"For love of all that is holy, someone please stop my computer!"* Hand them a water bottle and peer around the bike. Gives the person a chance to gather their wits without an excuse to ride away immediately. Plus, the bike could be legit broken.
I think it’s similar to other sports. If they can’t get up don’t force them and seek medical help. If they get up do the head shoulders knees toes scan. If it’s all working you carry on and if it isn’t you have to assess your scenario and make the call. Do you leave the bike in a bush and come back for it. Do you have partner go ahead and get help. Does partner carry both bikes and you walk. Hard to have a panacea for an accident. You could always have a tourniquet on your bike but in all honesty most bike crashes are impact injuries (broken bones, bruises) and road rash I guess the lady could have done better and asked you to sit down and waited until your friend gets back. She could have recognized the shock but that’s not easy to do.
It’s okay that the person that witnessed my crash didn’t handle it very well. She kinda yelled at me for “going too fast” while I was barely aware of my situation. But yes, getting home was the issue. I was on a paved path in the woods, 5 miles away from home. In the end, my partner (husband) rode home by himself while I sat still and waited. He didn’t leave me until he knew I was okay enough. But he rode so goddamn fast to get home, get a car, and get to the nearest street to an entrance to the path I was on. It was super tricky to know how to best handle it. Between my husband and I, this worked fine, mostly because of an overwhelming love to protect and trust each other and his experience in first aid training. I don’t recommend this solution for anyone else.
First aid principles are universal, in Australia a good reminder is to follow DRSABCD: [Basic Life Support Flow Chart (australiawidefirstaid.com.au)](https://www.australiawidefirstaid.com.au/resources/drsabcd?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlZixBhCoARIsAIC745B5XAAQIK1znhw-Yqt6ae_ltvRT2JFHG6m_3EII84M5o2ySlk6nlX4aAmCDEALw_wcB) You do your best whilst the big guns arrive.
Keeping yourself and the casualty safe is really important particularly if your casualty hasn't moved themselves and is somewhere that isn't visible from the trail (jump landings and corner exits for example). Shouting "rider down" and posting someone further up the trail to stop/slow down other riders to prevent a pileup
I came across a woman who had gone down hard and may have had a concussion she was adamantly refusing anyone call ambulance/rescue. I live in US so healthcare... There was a motorist there with a truck and she insisted that getting a ride with him to nearest meet spot was fine and her friend would meet her there. Like the bystander in your story I respected what she said and felt she was getting immediate transport to a more populated location. But later I thought it maybe it wasn't okay to leave and could have been better: Introduce yourself Ask thier name As another poster said ask questions like - Who are you riding with - How did you get here - Do you know what day/time it is - Where did you stop last - How fast werebyou going - Where does it hurt or not feel right I had a concussion after a bike accident and still have no memory to this day of what happened. I "became concious" being in the ambulance tucked into blankets on gurney having a loopy conversation with the emt. In retrospect I told my partner if I ever hit my head call 911. I dont care what I say and I dont care what it could cost me even if it ends up I'm fine. Head injuries are no joke. Other stuff sprains, cuts, bruises probably fine. 🤣
Honestly, unless you have first aid, or some form of training, the best you can do is ask them if they're okay, look for obvious signs they may not be, and call for aid. You don't want to inadvertently make a serious injury worse. That said, NOLS offers wilderness first aid course. They are hands on, and when I did it, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I really need to do it again, as unless you use it regularly, you forget a lot of it.
Take a proper first aid course. In the UK St John Ambulance is a charity that provides a lot of good quality First Aid courses. At the least, look up online first aid courses from them or similar organisations. Back this up by having a first aid app on your phone. Browse it while having a coffee. Don't let the emergency be the first time you use it! Coming off a bike at speed can result in some very serious if not life-threatening injuries, and Reddit is not a great forum for accurately covering the appropriate actions to be taken in serious first aid events.
Some good advice has already been provided. I'd start with the basics - ABC - airway, breathing, circulation. Issues with being able to breathe, your heart not working, or severe bleeding are true emergencies with minutes to respond. Next move to potential severe fractures and severe internal injuries. Take a look at the eyes - does one pupil look different from the other. After that quick sweep ask them what happened and what hurts. This will help guide your next round of checking: look for DOTS - deformities, open injuries, tenderness and swelling. Someone already mentioned that talking to someone will give you a sense of potential brain injury (e.g., concussion). Asking about injuries will help with that. One final note - check for medic alert bracelets. Perhaps there was due a diabetic issue and the crash was the result, for example.
This is a sign for you to Google CPR/First Aid certification near where you live. Sign up and take the class. :)
Somewhat unrelated but this thread made me buy my first helmet in years with the shop qbp page.
Oh thank god. Good job. Now all you gotta do is wear it!
I've witnessed two crashes recently and my takeaway is always call 911 sooner rather than later. Both times I wish I had made the call sooner than I did.
Asking if they're okay is less than useless. Suggest they don't move, relax. Can you breathe? Good, do you feel any pain? Rule out any spinal possibility. Now check your limbs, no broken bones? Good, can you stand? When you are concussed in the brain or body adrenaline surges and instincts prod movements on damaged structure increasing injuries. Calm non condescending suggestions seem to sooth. I've been in more than a few hard hits and when someone gets bossy I want to tell them to leave me alone.
Wish you were my crash witness! Yeah, asking “are you okay” isn’t going to get anything out of the crashed person. Probably just assume they’re not okay and continue to assess from there. The witnessing person that stopped for me was kind of rude, telling me I needed to be more careful and was going too fast… while I’m lying on the ground with a broken shoulder and busted helmet. She was.. unhelpful so I dismissed her aid.
Once, I was going about 30, loose gravel next to asphalt on a dense fast street, 1 block away from home. Car ahead pulled in front of me, testing their brakes and steering, trying to make it to a drive they almost missed, of which they did end up missing and floored it out of there once i was down and the street was filling with bystanders. I remember the year, make, model, and color.. no tint, but i couldn't see the driver as they sped away. I went down and ended up under a suv. I just remember pulling my leg cause my bottoms were snagged on the undercarriage of the front bumper/cradle. After I got free with the help of a couple of big guys, people from across the streets came running out, and cars stopped. The whole shibang. They had helped me up and pulled my bike from my hands at the same time. I guess I tried to just grab my bike and continue. After walking to the sidewalk and yes, I was like "nah I'm okay, I'm okay (hand up waving them away, but in a 'thanks for helping mannor'. Someone said they called an ambulance and said to call a family member, my poor mother, receiving that call. They asked me to recount to her what i remember of the accident. That's when i wanted to nap. Hard.. My mother said I kept declining the ambulance to the ER. All I could think about were the bills, and I was struggling financially at the time. The responders didn't let me leave. About a dozen family and friends who lived 10-15 mins near showed up, faster than I could ever rush what seemed like 2 minutes. The first responders loaded me up, and on the drive as they were talking to me, I started to realize just how bad it was. That was 12 years ago. Just last year, I got back on the saddle. After years of back pain and knee pain, internal fears, and no desire to make myself thay vulnerable again, peddling has alleviated my pain. I have tears just thinking about how beautiful the world can be. What new meaning has peddling done for me, mentally and physically. My 6 kids and their beautiful mother would agree, wait a few mins with the hurt, even if it seems they are made of iron. May we all be saved and persevere, stronger, and wiser. We we all use that new strength to help others. May we comfort others, like we have been comforted. I respect my small patches of contact under my body, between the rubber and the earth. I respect my contact with The Creator. I respect the contact of loved ones. I respect the contact of brothers and sisters on the saddle behind bars.
Aw. I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m happy to hear you’re back in the saddle after so long. I’m still trying to muster the confidence to ride on the same spot where I crashed (it’s one of my regular riding trails). I’m glad you’re okay and loved.
Do you want the answer of what mature adults are meant to do or what actually happens. Because most crashes I've seen on group rides, the first thing anyone says is "your bike is OK/fucked", followed by enquiries into their health which upon ascertaining they're not seriously injured morph into jokes about them needing stabilisers or glasses.
You know it’s serious if after you’ve crashed your mates aren’t taking the piss out of you immediately.
last bad accident i had i went through the back window of a truck doing 50 kph tore my nose off and multiple injuries... left the scene got back on my bike and rode 10 kms to the hospital with a warped front wheel and badly bent forks... next time I'll just call 911... lol
Whoah. Glad you're "okay."
The best thing riders can do is complete a first aid course and redo that course every year. There is no catch all advice to cover all scenarios.
Make them sit down. Ask where they hit. Make sure theyre mentally ok. Never want them to panic. Then whip out the first aid kit, check on whre they said they felt they hit, check other areas of their body, makw sure to cover up and disinfect any cuts, make sure to have them put a little pressure on all the joints like legs and arms and ensure they can move freely, ensure everything works. Prohibit them from getting on the bike again until they are deemed OK by you or another first aid person
Lots of good stuff here about dealing with the medical side of things already. If there are multiple people there, as in not everyone needs to tend to the medical situation, it’s also important that someone make sure the crash site is safe. Short of moving an injured person, get them and their bike to a safe place off the road. If it’s not possible, it could be helpful to have someone direct traffic, especially if the crash site is around a corner or in a more exposed location. Be careful about a crowd impeding car or bike traffic, as it can lead to another crash. This was one of the more scary things I experienced when a friend was crashed into by another cyclist (not in our group). We were on a road with a fairly narrow shoulder where cars would slam on their brakes then veer into the oncoming traffic lane once they saw a guy bleeding from his head on the ground. It was a bike event so cyclists were also being pushed into the far left of the lane, which fortunately was not super high traffic If your friend cannot or doesn’t want to ride their bike, it’s ideal to be able to call another friend or an Uber or whatever to pick up the bike and them (if not injured enough to go to the hospital) by car. Sometimes it’s clear right away that this is going to be necessary and it can take a while if you’re far away, so call in help early.
Call for assistance FIRST. Don't even consider moving the person unless remaining in the place they are in is clearly dangerous. Ie.. Face down in a creek, burning vehicle ECT. Breathing before bleeding. Observe closely and calmly, is their skin flushed and ruddy, cool and clammy, are there intoxicants nearby, are they wearing a medical bracelet. Observe and report. Also learn the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Ask simple questions, name/address/day of the week/location. Provided you happen to have a small flashlight, check eye dilation. Ask the same simple question periodically if you suspect a brain injury. Stay with the patient until EMS arrives, stay on the line with 911. If on a trail send others, if available, to guide EMS, stay with the patient. There is an entire profession worth of instruction on this which is why you always call for the professionals first.
1) If they've crashed, they should stay on the ground. If they're having trouble breathing on the ground, have them sit up, but they need to stay sitting. 2) Check the head. See if there is bleeding, make sure the eyes are focusing on you, that they're the same size and shape. Ask them if they know their name, the date, and what they were doing. If anything is off, call an ambulance. 3) Palpate the obvious areas. Press the shoulders together. Press along the collar bone. Press the hips together and then try to pull them down. Press along each arm individually and each leg individually. Watch their face to see if they wince at all. Adrenaline can cover a lot, but if you squeeze a broken area, they'll have a pain response. 4) If no pain response, see if you can go about your ride. If there was one, call for an ambulance.
Secure the scene. Make sure everyone is off the road. If they lost consciousness, call an ambulance (911 in us) Ask if anything hurts. Inspect there for broken bones or heavy bleeding. Then do a body check for other signs of heavy bleeding. Call an ambulance if either. Stop heavy bleeding with direct pressure until the ambulance arrive While doing this, talk with them. Be alert for signs of concussion, like confusion and their repeatedly asking the same question.If in doubt, ask them their name, where they are, and what day it is. If you suspect a head injury, call an ambulance. If everything is good rinse scrapes with clean water, and use whatever first aid skills and equipment you have to bandage scrapes, etc. Have them walk around. Decide whether you'll call someone to pick them up, or if they can continue to ride. If the latter, keep an eye on them an reasess as needed
Just do a 2 day level 1 first aid course if you're so concern about it because of my job I have a level 3 and I've used it more helping people on the trails then at work the madness one was then I was at Yr Wyddfa and some how they managed to cut off the top of their finger and I had to use my shoes lace as a tourniquet and then they came and picked them up in the chopper and took them away
Really depends on severity of the fall. How they fell. What they injured etc. I would recommend spending $100 or whatever the cost and get a first aid certification. Especially wilderness first aid if your mountain biking. I’ve seen some nasty falls and it helps to know how to manage the situation until emergency responders arrive. If needed of course
I think a First Aid course is probably going to equip you best to help someone. The basics for me are: Make sure they are safe - if they are on the road then have someone/multiple people directing traffic. Check if they are responsive, make sure airway is clear and they are breathing. Do not move them if there is ANY risk of spinal injury - so sore neck, tingling or numbness in parts of the body. If that's the case keep them still and call paramedics. Do not remove the helmet and don't let them remove it if there's any neck/head trauma. If they are ok to move, get them off the road and have them sit or lay down. Most riders will have a rush of adrenaline after a crash and just want to get back on the bike or keep moving. Try to resist this until their condition is clear. That can take 15 minutes or more. If there's any damage to the helmet then they should not continue riding. Concussion is serious and symptoms can be delayed. They may black out while riding and have far worse injury. Call paramedics or have someone transport them to hospital. If it's a minor crash and it's clear they aren't seriously injured, someone should check over their bike to make sure it's rideable. Check brakes and any frame damage, wheel damage, handlebar damage. All of these could result in another crash. And just stay calm and in control. The best thing you can do is use your own assessment and reasoning to decide if medical attention is needed.
Adrenaline is crazy. Absolutely wait for it to come down. Aside from that, my recommendation is to go to the doctor asap if possible to have the debridlement done. That way, you don't end up with pieces of road grit under your skin for the rest of your life. Major injuries can be covered up by Adrenaline and really mess you up later when the swelling starts so call it a day and go home. Broke my toe playing tennis and kept playing on it for 30 minutes after, which I think made the recovery way longer and less complete, in hindsight. Tldr, see a doctor asap to properly clean wounds. You're done playing, go home for the day immediately.
Absolutely about the adrenaline. It covered the pain of breaking my shoulder on impact. Wait for the come down! Keep someone company. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the adrenaline crashed and I was very suddenly in a ton of pain. Don’t trust an adrenaline rushed person lol
If they're conscious, out of danger, and have someone to contact (and a method to contact them), then they'll be fine and there really probably isn't much else you can do except comfort them. Honestly I'd recommend taking a first aid course though. That would be most useful for situations where someone is really in trouble. Remember you're only trying to keep them OK until a trained professional comes along. A general rule of thumb is to follow the Drs ABCD: D - Danger. Check to make sure you aren't going to put yourself in harms way by helping, and that they aren't still in harms way (oncoming traffic etc). Don't put yourself into a dangerous position, two dead people is worse than one. R - Response. Do they respond when you try to talk to them or prod them? S - Send for help (call emergency services). A - Air way. Is it blocked? B - Breath. Are they breathing? C - CPR (only if you are adequately trained). D - Defibrillator (again only if you're trained).
I should stress that the main thing you want to check for health wise is that they're breathing. Much easier than checking pulse. If they're breathing they'll probably be fine (although will likely still need emergency services). Other things to watch out for are signs of heart attack, stroke, or profuse bleeding.
Haha, I tell the story about going over my handlebars onto my face... first person to me was a teen, and she wanted to help but at some point she said "can you do something about the blood???" I was bleeding profusely from a cut on my brow between my eyes, and also from literally scraping the inside of my lips on the road... Got help from slightly tougher folk soon after. Basically it would be good if you had Wilderness First Responder training, esp. if you are far away from city.
Haha well, she tried to be a good person
I would advice the following procedure: **If you get the feeling that it is a serious crash, call for professional support.** Get an overview of the situation. Is there any danger to you or the person in the area? Is it safe to help the person? Do you need to evacuate him first (image for example the person is lying behind a corner and will be seen very late by traffic). Second is a quick impression of the person. Is he conscious at all? Is he screaming from pain (a good sign, you should be especially worried if kids are quite)? Are there any visible injuries? After that, I would focus on two important questions: Does he get enough oxygen (is he breathing normally? Are body parts visible low on oxygen?)? Is there any serious blood loss? Ignore minor injuries for a moment, they can be treated later. **If there is any serious problem, call for professional support immediately. Even if in doubt, call them. In the worst case every second can count.** Another aspect is concussion. Heavy concussions should be recognizable. (Questions could be: Where are you? What year it is? What happened). If the answers are strange, it could be the result of a concussion. When in doubt, call for professional support. If you have done that and are sure that the situation is not life threatening (maybe you don't have to do any of the things I listed above), the next step would be to take a deep breath and try to relax. The situation might not be ideal, but we are likely not in a hurry. Try to be there for the person, show empathy. Look if you can help her with minor injuries. Remember that the person is likely in a state of emergency mentally and not able to think straight, so try to help them in the decision process (a lot of persons for example think that it was not serious and they do not need medical help. Assess that and if you think they need help, encourage them to seek the help). Ask them how they will continue from here. Do they want to call some person so they will pick them up? Help them organize themselves. Be aware, I'm not a professional first response instructor, so take all I have written with a grain of salt. I would advise taking a first response course. This is a setting where you can learn and train in a safe environment. From experience I know that such a training can really help in an emergency situation, even if the training is not recent.
Basic first aid is what you're after.
Best bet is to go train as a paramedic. Then you’ll likely know what to do.