to feel a bit naffed off at the people who did nothing

[Loveneverfails]

Basically,

there is only one shop in the place I live.

A property is being renovated just along from it.

On the way home today, we spotted an old man lying on the pavement (about 2pm), in between the shop and property.

His zimmer was beside him. It was clear he was in pain and the zimmer was broken.

We stopped the car and got out.

Clearly the old boy had had a tipple but equally clearly his zimmer was broken (one wheel sheered off and no where to be seen). He was in a dreadful state, smelly, dirty, on the pavement. Calm but still, on the pavement! Could say his name and where he lived and that he was just out of hospital with a broken hip.

Builders came out and said - we offered to get him up an hour ago he said no. They told me the local shop keep selling him booze when he toddles along for it.

People were walking past him and us and not saying a word ?!

AIBU to think he is a human being, was clearly in pain, was filthy and smelly (builders commented on it) and people should not be just walking on by . REALLY? they left him there because he didn't want help - could they not have called an ambulance?

We got an ambulance.

He was taken away. I think his hip may be broken again :(

We also arranged local district nurse to bring him a zimmer if he doesnt get one given to him in the hosp, and spoke with his GP.

Took about two hours of our time but I will sleep tonight!

I was also sad cos the builders were laughing taking pics of him on the pavement

Hi dawndonnaagain - I don't think that was me. If it was I didn't realise he was in trouble. If you tell me the date this happened and city you live then I will be able to clarify. Hope your dad is getting better.

I agree that the builder's acted terribly by taking photographs and because the man in question had refused their offer of help, they should have called an ambulance. People ignoring him is a real shame.

However, I also think you have to think about why people don't help in this type of situation. IMO, more often than not it's not because they are horrible, uncaring people who simply CBA to help-it's because they fear the consequences or don't know what to do for the best.

There are an increasing number of "hoaxes" going on, where a person pretends to be unwell/injured/have an accident to get drivers to pull over/people to stop. When they do so, they are robbed, or the car stolen and on some occasions physically harmed. Overall, I imagine the numbers are low but people are more aware of it (certainly a few locally to me). This recently happened to a friend of mine while doing on-call GP work (in the marked car). She wasn't harmed, but I know it would make her think twice about stopping now, unless she was very sure of what was happening (and I have to say, I would too following this).

In addition to this, people are increasingly frightened of the legal consequences (if they do the wrong thing, they fear they may be sued)- especially if they aren't sure what the best way to help in the first place (e.g." should I leave them where they are, or move them?"). Or are worried they'll get accused of something/get embroiled in a criminal case etc. Although I would argue that you could (and should) still call for an ambulance in these situations.

I'm a doctor. I have an ethical duty to help in an emergency, and if we are involved in this sort of situation it is advised that we write a clinical record of what we did/when/why etc- partly in case we are sued. I have to have defence union subscription for my job (this is a medicolegal defence union, not a trade union). We can have "good samaritan" cover as part of this. Thankfully, the number of cases of a person suing their "good samaritan" is rare in the UK (for now) and none have been upheld, but there is a small number of "ambulance chasers" who encourage their client to speculatively look for evidence that would support a claim. Although the only case I am aware of didn't come to anything more than the Dr in question being informed that the person they helped was considering taking action of some sort, I imagine the stress of having it hanging over you, having to inform your employer and GMC etc is massive). In some countries (including in EU) this speculative approach is taken as a matter of course in such cases.

I have heard of some defence union representatives "unofficially" advising their members not to stop to help in these instances as it's not worth the potential fall out (financially, in terms of your career and so on). Never been given this advice myself, but I have heard it from a number of sources. With this going on, it's not surprising some people are reluctant to help. Not nice or caring, but a reflection on the behaviour of a minority can have on the rest of us.

Not trying to negate the fact that it is awful that people won't stop to help an injured or unwell person- but I think some of the comments have been a bit self-righteous.

I'm not sure if the UK has a such a law as Duty to rescue To tell you the truth, I cba to look for it at the moment.

But this looks good:- ...The photographers at the scene of Lady Diana's fatal car collision were investigated for violation of the French law of "non-assistance à personne en danger" (deliberately failing to provide assistance to a person in danger), which can be punished by up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000.

Anyone who fails to render assistance to a person in danger will be found liable before French Courts (civil and criminal liability). The penalty for this offence in criminal courts is imprisonment and a fine (under article 223–6 of the Criminal Code) while in civil courts judges will order payment of pecuniary compensation to the victims.

Maybe there should be a law in the UK, like the example above... if there isn't one already?

SteamTrains

I don't think the UK does have such a law.

Perhaps there should be such a law (although difficult to police I'd have thought) but then you'd also have to make it much harder to sue people for attempting to help but doing the wrong thing which leads to harm.

Exclusions for personal safety would need to be made, to avoid people feeling they have to do something which puts themselves or others in harms way to avoid being prosecuted for not helping.

There would also need to be clear guidance as to what "helping" must entail- e.g. is just calling an ambulance/police/fire brigade sufficient or is more direct intervention required?

I can see your point, but I think it is a bit of a minefield.

Interesting points raised.

The OP is back in hospital. Think his hip IS buggered.

:(

I'm a bit torn on this one.

I would absolutely have helped the pregnant lady who fell with the toddler. No questions asked.

Drunk guy? Not hugely sure. I'd call an ambulance for someone who was obviously hurt or unconscious but sometimes it's not so clear what is the best/correct thing to do.

I remember a few years ago my husband and I were in town shopping. We had had a coffee in a coffee shop on the city square, and we were crossing the precinct to get into the main shopping centre. The rain was coming down in sheets and the street is cobbled so it was a bit slippy.

This jakey looking guy came out of a nearby pub, clearly absolutely wrecked, and ran (or quickly staggered) in front of us across the precinct. He slipped on the cobbles and basically landed at our feet. He was fine, didn't seem to be hurt. My husband was a bit concerned (as he had fallen quite hard, although he didn't hit his head) and pulled him to his feet but he kept overbalancing and husband kept propping him up. Another guy came over and the two of them manoeuvred the drunk guy onto a bench. The bench had no back to it (no backed alternatives available) and he kept falling over backwards so they had to hold him upright.

To be honest we had no idea what to do. He wasn't hurt so calling an ambulance didn't seem like the right thing to do at the time. He was just rubber-man drunk. He was quite chatty but couldn't tell us where he lived etc. Just felt like we were kind of stuck with this drunk guy. He then vomited everywhere which he found hilarious. I am severely vomit-phobic (another reason I don't like to approach drunk people) it was just vile to be honest.

Eventually I went into the shopping centre to ask for help and two security guards took over. No idea what they did they just said "ok we've got this, no worries" so we left. Soaked to the skin (and husband had sick on him) so we just went home after that. Wasn't exactly a great way to spend an afternoon.

You know I think you can absolutely report it to the relevant emergency people without having to get involved yourself, which is why I could never not report something like that. I was walking through a dodgy area of town with my very young daughter when I saw a man lying passed out on the street and everyone was just walking past. There was every chance he was drunk or on drugs, but either way I couldn't just leave him so I phoned the police who were ok with me not hanging around and they assured me they would come and check on him. How hard is that to do even if you don't want to put yourself at risk?