How you handle accidents.

[syrnypolice]

I want to know if any officers got really disgusted and sick the first time they came up on a really bad accident. Is it something you get use to or were you ok even from your first accident. The reason I ask is because I’m not sure how I would handle it. I was around an accident once where a lady, who was driving her grandson around, flipped her car about 4 times and it landed in our front lawn. The lady was able to get her self out of the car and knocked on our door. I answered, and saw her with blood all over her face. Then I saw her grandson who was also bleeding from his head walking around the front yard crying, he was probably about 5 years old. I remember being able to handle the situation. I was about 16. I was calm and made sure the appropriate action was taken. It wasn’t until after the paramedics left that I felt a little shaken up about it. Altogether I felt like I handled it pretty well. I just wonder if that is what will happen next time. I think so, but how is it for you police officers that have dealt with really bad stuff?

[Scruit]

People handle situations like that differently. One day our dog got loose and we live near to very busy roads (1/3 mile from a freeway-sized 4-lane highway) and the dog could easily have been killed had she wandered out on the road.

I drove home when my wife called, and my brother was also there. She is very intelligent, level headed and common sense, but given the emotion of the situation she was in tears and wasn't able to handle it. I just took charge and started dividing the area up into numbered zones based upon likelihood of success and assigned the three of us different zones to search in order. We searched an area of about a square mile before I found the dog, and I called the other two to meet me at the house.

She and I are both as smart as each other, but she went to pieces. (Sorry!)

[sbrad]

I don't mean to sound rude, but the question was about auto accidents and human tragedy. How you squeezed a lost dog story in there I can't figure out.
I swear I'm not flamin' ya, but come on.

[hwpd]

the point was every person handles/reacts to different situations differently.

[mcsap]

Sad to say but after while, you get used to it. Sorry, I have seen too much.

[Scruit]

sbrad, I was not comparing the loss of a dog to the loss of human life.

I was making the point that you could take two perfectly normal intelligent people and put them in a stressful situation and one may freak out while the other stays calms.

[realpolice]

As an Accident Investigator, I've gotten used to it; however, kids are always the hardest to deal with.

[syrnypolice]

As an Accident Investigator, I've gotten used to it; however, kids are always the hardest to deal with.

How hard was it to deal with in the beginning?

[nhexplorerpost2]

I am an explorer who does a lot of ride-alongs. My very first auto accident that I responded to was with a girl who I go to school with and play sports with. She was pinned pretty bad in her car and in the end she had to be air lifted to the hospital. When I was on the way to the scene I was nervous because I did not know what I was going to see, but once I got on the scene I was very calm even after I found out that I knew her. All was fine and dandy until I got home. When I had time to actually think about it is when I started to get shaken up.
One of the last ride-alongs that I did I rode with one of our citys fatal accident investigators. He has a file cabinet with all of his reports and pictures. He went through all of them with me and explained things to me. One of the biggest things that he told me was when dealing with a fatal accident, NEVER look at the face if possible!!!! Once you look at the face you see it as an actual person not just an accident.
I know it is sad to say, but when working an accident you need to do your job then and freak out later!!! The last thing that they need is another patient ( you).
Sorry if I got off subject!

[md123]

I am an EMS volunteer. I have been to a few bad accidents, one fatal. Plus several other fatal calls (cpr calls). At the scene I was too busy concentrating on helping out so nothing bothered me at that time. I got a bit introspective thinking about things afterwards though, but nothing that really got under my skin for any length of time. Granted, I was not dispatched to the truck wreck/decapitation in the next town which may have been rougher to deal with, so I am not sure how I would handle extreme gore, but I personally came to terms with seeing things like this. I hate to see people get hurt, but I found that being confronted with death, on a more regular basis than most people almost helped me in a way. It is difficult not to see that life is short, everyone dies, make the most of what you got. . .

Plus, you will find that you can often talk about these things with the people you work with if you feel the need. Try not to bring it home, and lay it on your wife or someone who has no idea what you've been through. Talk to people who have been there and understand. It could help put things into perspective.

[syrnypolice]

Sorry if I got off subject!

No... that was good stuff. Thanks