Do Homo Sapiens have a As-if-I-care-gene ?

Platapus · 01-28-19, 06:55 PM

This is why if you are responding to an accident, don't just call out "someone call 911". No one will.

Point to someone and say to them "call 911" Either that person will do it or someone else will.

A lot of times, people, while meaning well, may not know what to do. It can be a form of paralysis. In emergencies, people are afraid of either doing something wrong or being criticized for doing something wrong so they freeze. This is especially common with laypeople. They are waiting to see of there is someone else with more experience/knowledge to "take action". So they wait.

It is kinda like no one wants to be the first on the dance floor, but as soon as someone goes, it spurs everyone else.

EMS can have the opposite issue in that we are trained to take action. I have seen junior EMTs push away senior people and in one case an ER doctor who happened to be on the scene but out of uniform. Their attitude is that since they are the "official EMT" on duty that everyone else is presumed to be a layperson. It does not help that, by nature, EMTs are a cocky bunch of bastages.

So in some cases, it is not a matter of not caring, but caring but not knowing what to do or wanting to take action too soon.

There are, however, people who truly don't care.

Usually we had police roll with us when going to traffic accidents. Often they were necessary for crowd control. Everyone loves seeing blood and a fellow human suffering.

One time we didn't and we had to manually carry a stretcher/gurney with the patient up an embankment to the squad. There were so many people standing around gawking that I, being the one in front, had to physically elbow people aside and not only did they not move, these gawkers started complaining to ME.

People suck at times.

01-28-19, 06:55 PM	#9
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,380 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	This is why if you are responding to an accident, don't just call out "someone call 911". No one will. Point to someone and say to them "call 911" Either that person will do it or someone else will. A lot of times, people, while meaning well, may not know what to do. It can be a form of paralysis. In emergencies, people are afraid of either doing something wrong or being criticized for doing something wrong so they freeze. This is especially common with laypeople. They are waiting to see of there is someone else with more experience/knowledge to "take action". So they wait. It is kinda like no one wants to be the first on the dance floor, but as soon as someone goes, it spurs everyone else. EMS can have the opposite issue in that we are trained to take action. I have seen junior EMTs push away senior people and in one case an ER doctor who happened to be on the scene but out of uniform. Their attitude is that since they are the "official EMT" on duty that everyone else is presumed to be a layperson. It does not help that, by nature, EMTs are a cocky bunch of bastages. So in some cases, it is not a matter of not caring, but caring but not knowing what to do or wanting to take action too soon. There are, however, people who truly don't care. Usually we had police roll with us when going to traffic accidents. Often they were necessary for crowd control. Everyone loves seeing blood and a fellow human suffering. One time we didn't and we had to manually carry a stretcher/gurney with the patient up an embankment to the squad. There were so many people standing around gawking that I, being the one in front, had to physically elbow people aside and not only did they not move, these gawkers started complaining to ME. People suck at times. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.