Was this the right thing to do - car accident

[Squirrel672]

Witnessed a nasty car accident at the weekend. As we came round a bend, a car was flipping/turning over towards us, ending upside down in the road. DH ran to check occupants of the car and I called 999. I asked for ambulance and the police to come immediately - ambulance took about 15 minutes to arrive and police came shortly after that. During this time we got the lady driver out the car - miraculously she seemed to be totally unhurt although she felt dizzy and she thought the accident may have been caused by her momentarily blacking out - she’d just done a 25 mile run at the age of 59 (respect!). Anyway my question is, was I right to call ambulance? I think back and wonder if I’d overreacted but on seeing the state of the car I thought that there was almost certainly likely to be some serious injuries, in fact I was so scared as to what I was going to see when I ran towards the car. I think it definitely needed police as the road was blocked but perhaps we should have assessed the injuries etc first as she seemed completely fine by the time the ambulance arrived although very much still in shock. I’m overthinking it aren’t I. It was such a shocking thing to see and if we’d been a second or two in front the car would have been crashing into us! The 999 person was lovely and said we’d done really well but I can’t stop thinking about it. I hope she’s ok now and the adrenaline wasn’t masking anything serious.

Of course you were right, why on earth would you doubt that? Even if the driver was apparently OK (and you don't know that, and probably shouldn't have let her move from car if no apparent danger), she will need to have been checked out.

Even apart from the ambulance, obviously emergency services were going to have to deal with the upside down car, and 999 is calling all emergency services.

Of course you were right. She definitely needed to be checked over and could have deteriorated rapidly at any point. People's adrenaline can mask very serious injuries immediately after an accident.

I was at an accident where the driver got out of a very badly damaged car was walking around and joking about his lucky escape one minute next minute he was on the floor and we had to start CPR. He didn't survive.

Not sure why I was wondering, she seemed so totally fine by the time the ambulance arrived but thank you for the reassurance. She was hanging upside down in the car and begging for us to help her get out, we were also worried about the risk of fire so it did seem best to get her out - we didn’t think twice to be honest- and she was able to walk away.

@Littletreefrog that’s awful, that does reassure me we did the right thing.

You did the right thing. I'm a former police officer and if you hadn't called the ambulance, I would if I'd attended.

Any accident where a car has flipped or the airbag has gone off should definitely involve a medical check.

Defo the right thing to have done as others have said.
You are probably shaken up yourself which is making you doubt yourself. Take some time out to chill if u can.

You did the right thing. She definitely would need to be checked over by paramedics/at hospital - internal injuries can be masked for a short while with shock etc but she could have been hurt and not realised herself.

Us health professionals would always rather check and find everything is fine, than not!

Ps I would advise in future waiting for ambulance staff to arrive to assess any possible spinal damage before moving someone (unless of course there's a more immediate danger like the car is actually starting to catch fire or there's a ten ton lorry heading for the vehicle).

Plenty of people can feel initially fine but actually be badly injured or in shock. You are not equipped to assess them so an ambulance was required.

Many people jump up and walk around full of adrenaline for a few minutes when they are actually injured so either way she needs to be checked out. Other injuries like whiplash take weeks to develop and the medical records on the day of the crash may be important at a later date for insurance purposes.

Relax and be proud of yourself for doing the right thing!

Definitely did the right thing calling an ambulance. Although if you were ever unfortunate enough to be in that position again in future it's best to try and convince them to stay put until they have been assessed. I was in an awful accident a while ago, and passers by tried to help get me out but I ended up having to be cut out of the car. I was desperate to get out but had to be stretchered into the ambulance. I'd actually really injured my neck and could have done a lot more damage if I'd started walking around

I know someone who walked 1/4 a mile with 3 fractured vertebrae after a riding accident. Adrenaline masks huge amount. You did the right thing!

You did the right thing. As PP have said though it’s usually better to leave the person in the car for a professional to extract unless you need to do CPR or the vehicle is on fire. It’s actually pretty rare for a vehicle to catch fire after an accident.

Best to call for aid first and better safe than sorry in such a situation

Why would you even question this? Of course calling an ambulance is the right thing to do.
What do you mean a 59 year old doing a 25miles journey? Even if it was 250 miles, it shouldn't be a problem for a 59 year old woman or man.

Of course you did the right thing. The cause of the black needed to be investigated along with any possible injury caused by the accident. The Police would have called the ambulance when they arrived anyway.

Given that OP says she did a 25 mile run, rather than a drive, I think 250 miles might have been challenging ...

Sounds like you're still in shock from seeing the accident occur?

Maybe if you write it out again in lots of minute detail it will help you to process what you saw? I did that after being involved in a car accident some years ago and I found writing it all out (was very beneficial for the insurance company too) but also it helped me to stop re-living it when I allowed my mind to wander.

Well done on getting involved and looking after that lady. Too many folk would rather whip out their phones these days. 😢

@WinWhenTheyreSinging oh she meant like a physical run!!! It read to me like a car trip. I retract my earlier comment.

You did the right thing. I found a flipped over car in a field one night. Waited ages in the cold for an ambulance with a young girl who was having breathing problems. All I kept thinking was please don't deteriorate before they get here. She had broken ribs and a pneumothorax. Whilst looking after her and trying to be calm and in control, I was actually really scared.

Calling an ambulance was absolutely the right thing to do but in future you shouldn't get people out of cars really - leave it to the ambulance crew in case they're severely injured.

Surely if you phone the police to report an accident like this the ambulance comes anyway? Please tell me you don't think ambulances are an indulgence for people who have just flipped over in a car.

What a strange question. Was it just a way for you to post about the accident?

I can't imagine ever seeing a car flip over and not phoning for an ambulance.

Yes I’m just going over everything that happened really. It seemed like such an anticlimax when she seemed absolutely fine when I’d been thinking the worst. Although she was obviously in shock and very upset etc.
Would it really have been best to leave her hanging upside down in all circumstances ? She didn’t seem to be in a very safe position. If she’d been injured we’d have just put her in the recovery position on the road I think (DH had wrenched the door open). Thanks for the comments. I was thinking about stories where people have heart attacks etc and the ambulance doesn’t turn up for hours and hours and wondering if it had been a waste of resources if she could have got to hospital under her own steam. I read a dreadful story in the news the other day where a chap died because the ambulance didn’t come for 13 hours.

I read it to mean the woman had just run a marathon.
Edit: Cross post. I see this has already been addressed. Apologies.

@Squirrel672 the issue is if there is neck/spinal damage, any movement at all could risk further damage even paralysis.

I know of a motorcyclist who crashed. A "trying to be helpful" passerby removed his helmet but in doing so caused a final snap injury to his spinal cord that resulted in him being paralysed from the neck down. If they had kept him absolutely still, and waited for ambulance, he wouldn't be in a wheelchair today, barely able to eat or speak.

@Squirrel672 - yes, sometimes the seatbelt almost holds you in place but as soon as you move, the damage starts basically.

If someone is trapped in a car you really do need to just leave them be until the emergency services arrive.