define 'emergency'
an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action.
Yesterday, we passed by a motorist that just got tumbled down with his van. Obviously, he drove fast & maybe recklessly due to the impact he managed to uproot the palm tree on the island off the road. Police arrived and we saw this driver lying down the ground,agonizing with pain while office looking on waiting for the Emergency Team to arrive. I saw the victim was in pain but even the officer who were standing there cannot do anything because SOP said, let the Emergency Team handle it. Then, I was thinking, what if the E-team arrives late because too much traffic along the way? Maybe it would take them 15 minutes or so to come but the victim lies in pain w/out first-aid & in critical condition. I don't know but in my country,we define emergency as 'taking immediate action when necessary' on critical condition. We don't have to wait for ambulance to come,whatever transport we can grab on site we use them to facilitate the victim/s to the hospital so that they can get proper aid. Life first, that is our SOP.
Nicaq: there are some reasons for insisting that the victim be taken to hospital in an ambulance only.
1. People are supposed to give way to ambulance but not private vehicles.
2. Ambulance has priority over any other vehicle, be it jumping a red light or taking the shoulder.
3. Esp in cases where there is a spine injury, moving the victim from the spot, without expert help and tackle can only aggravate his condition.
4. Qualified personnel and equipment are there in an ambulance that can take care of the victim during transportation.
The best thing wud b to do whatever first aid you can n wait for the ambulance to come.
Ofcourse the response(turn out) time of the Emergency services is also a critical issue. Hav seen emergency services, in this part of the world, that dont even pick your call when u dial 999/998!!
Well basically it depends on the type of emergency, specifically talking about the above scenario sometimes if the person helping is not properly trained than he might be worsening the situation. So its better that let the emergency be handled by experts, having said that one can always comfort the wounded in a way not to aggravate the situation.
One who hasn't taken risks hasn't lived