To be embarrassed that I did nothing?

[Sad1001]

And that I am terrible in an emergency?
Was travelling into work today, was raining and bus was packed.
As it got nearer to my stop, I stood by the exit just so I could get off at my stop easily.
Just before my stop, there was a loud bang and a woman was on the floor having tripped. She hadn't made a sound and the woman next to me asked if she was OK. Before she could reply, another woman literally pushed me out of the way, and the hurt woman said she was sure she had broken her wrist. So the bus was then stopped, an ambulance called etc.
I just feel like I acted really coldly. With all honesty, even if nobody else had stepped in, I am not sure I could have done out of shyness, awkwardness but also fear. No excuse but I have a phobia of hospitals and bone breaks.
Spent the whole day beating myself up and not really sure why I am posting but felt the need to do so.

That's a normal reaction for a lot of people who see something terrible, or are in shock.
Some people like the op freeze, some scream, some faint, some rush to assist.
There is no ' normal ' to situations, just reactions and everyone reacts differently. There is no right or wrong reaction.

It’s absolutely not normal to see an elderly man lay bleeding on the ground and stand laughing with tears running down your face.

For some people, yes it is.
As I say, there is no ' normal ' just reactions, and everyone reacts differently to situations.

…and then you went on to apologise to him?

I don’t know why you didn’t include that in your story - it would have prevented the pile-on you’ve (deservedly) got.

Don’t stress sometimes it takes a second to react. It wasn’t like no one helped her.
A few months ago I witnessed a car accident. There were no other cars or people around and I just kept driving.
It was pouring with rain, very low visibility. I was driving slightly under the speed limit and had someone tailgating me. They tried to pass me in a spot where you can’t pass. They lost control and crashed into a tree. I slowed down and saw the driver was ok, but the car was not drivable. I had a child in the car and didn’t feel safe stopping. I contacted the police when I got home.

I used to work in a autism care unit and was used to people throwing themselves around throughout the day.

after a particularly long and gruelling day I was in the supermarket when a woman kind of wailed and threw herself on the floor not far from me. I still had my work head on and said something to her but when I got no reply I calmly went to go and see if she had someone with her. When I got to the other end of the aisle a supermarket worker ran up to her and when I turned around it was obvious she has collapsed/was having some sort of seizure.

this was years ago and I still feel completely awful about it. Honestly at the time it didn’t even occur to me that it could be a medical emergency, my brain went straight to someone ND not coping in the environment. I have actually done first aid training since and now I feel even worse about it sometimes, knowing what I could have done.

I wouldn’t beat yourself up OP, not everyone can be a take charge and leap into action sort of person. Maybe just treat it as a learning experience.

Nobody will have noticed. There were plenty of people around and someone took charge:

When something like this happens in public there's nothing worse than people pretending to look useful and hanging around for a nosy. If the situation is in hand and emergency services have been called it's best to give the patient some space.

I have no doubt that even the shyest of people would more than likely offer support if it was absolutely necessary.

You should be embarrassed.
Imagine if it was someone you loved and they stood there and made excuses for doing absolutely nothing.

@AndTheSurveySays your reaction sounds like what is known as gaiting laughter, I think that's the spelling. There is a reason for it, and you're not on your own. Might be worth a look?

@Sad1001 you acted fine. FWIW, I trip and fall semi-regularly due to an old brain injury. I fell a couple of years ago on the main shopping street in Newcastle on Tyne town centre. Went down spectacularly full length. People were lovely, and stopped to help DH, but tbh, although I was very touched, I just had minor injuries, and was actually beyond embarassed. Just to give another viewpoint. Had even more people stopped to help it would just have added to that.

People do all sorts of things when faced with a situation they don't feel equipped to cope with, are shocked by, panicked by, scared about...

Ignore, march on... laugh... cry... jibber about and get in the way... take over even if they have no clue...

Honestly it all happens and what you'd do in a situation with a fairly 'take charge' person shoving you out the way before you've time to think is not reflective of what you'd do in any other situation either.

I've panicked - old chap tripped and fell in the road, I was 4th on scene though 1 was absolutely rat-arsed, 2 jibbered and got in the way and 3 was my best mate who is very capable and at the time worked with the elderly... she took charge, I got a grip of myself and followed instruction and got rid of 1 and 2 who were not helping - we got him in the recovery position, my new teatowels under his head and called an ambulance.

I've zoomed straight in too - a lass at a bus stop we were walking towards (same friend as above), on an otherwise empty, going dark, drizzly street - she just dropped, folded like she'd been deflated.... by the time we got to her (a minute) she was fitting. Moved stuff to keep her safe, jacket under her head, looked in her bag/purse to see if she had any ID/medical stuff (couldn't get close enough to check neck/wrist for tags/medical jewellery. Called the ambo, stayed with her whilst she came round and was VERY confused and told her what had happened until the ambo came.

I'll bet that I was only confident second time round as I WAS with competent friend though, and because it was bloody obvious we were 'it'... there was no one else.

Sometimes too the most useful thing you can do is get out of the way - if others are dealing with things, too many people is just a pain!

It's an uncontrollable reaction,
Your own response on this thread is awful so take a look at yourself.
You don't sound considerate at all, you're berating a person for having a reaction they couldn't control.

It's always easier to be the second person on the scene, having another person there already somehow helps you process the situation better in my experience.

I have seen doctors and nurses freeze when something unexpected happens even with a lot of training.

Yes you should be embarrassed, how could you not help someone or see if they are OK!?

What a strange thing to admit to - you sound proud ?

It sounds like it happened so quickly OP! You might not have fully registered it. When I was a teen a worked in retail I remember a woman fainted right in front of me and it took a good moment or so for me to realise what had happened!

@greyhairnomore give over they don’t sound proud. It was likely an anxious response to a stressful situation.

And you should be embarrassed for being so judgemental. The OP was quite clearly shocked by the events - I'd have been the same - but as people have posted, if there weren't other people, the OP would probably have stepped in.

And apparently continued having that reaction for several minutes, as the elderly man lay there, half in the road with a probable head injury, until someone turned up who was able to act like an adult and manage themselves.

Every other instance in this thread of someone having that laugh reaction was either a teen, or someone who at least tried to stifle that uncontrollable reaction and act appropriately, because it is unacceptable for a functioning adult in that situation to stand there indulging their laughter for several minutes, and not help the potentially dying vulnerable person in any way whatsoever.

Perhaps take a first aid course so you feel (and are) better equipped to assist in future.

She was probably in shock!

So? You're the only adult on the scene, you deal with it. Either stifle your laughter, or apologise for it, and get an ambulance called for the elderly man with a head injury taken in a dangerous place. You don't just let minutes go by, standing there giggling away. For all she knew, the man had had a stroke, and those few minutes were the difference between him ever walking again or not.

Have you ever actually been in shock before?

I once saw a man fall so hard to the ground, he actually bounced and ended up with blood pouring from his head. I was late teens. My instant reaction was to freeze and then started backing away. Did I want to help? Absolutely! Yet my body reacted differently to what I was thinking.

'For all she knew...' and for all you know, she could have been in shock!

Not sure why it says "taken" there. Think that was meant to say "fallen".

I'm surprised by the number of people defending the laughing-for-minutes poster. We all know people react differently — sometimes it takes a moment to realise, sometimes another person will take over, sometimes you're not sure what to do, sometimes your immediate reaction is unfortunate or inappropriate. But very few people would see a vulnerable person so obviously in need of immediate emergency assistance, realise they were the only person available to help, and just stand there for minutes, laughing away, and doing nothing at all. It's completely different to every other story on here — OP was perfectly normal.

I have the nervous laughter too and it’s worse if people have very visible injuries. I remember one time I was at work and a colleague walked in with her arm in a sling and I burst out laughing, I was mortified and left the room (made out id just received a funny text).

problem is I laughed everytime I saw her, it went on for weeks. I still don’t know why I kept laughing

But its not as uncommon as you obviously believe to be true which is why people have defended the poster!