Would You Give Aid

[lono]

I am trained in CPR. That being said I would not leave my position and endanger my family to help my attacker. I would call 911 and wait for the other good guys to tend to his .45 caliber wounds. I don't want to kill someone but under no circumstances would I level the playing field by approaching the bad guy. He took his life into his own hands when he breached my door.

 

[The-Reaver]

Would he give you aid after shooting or stabbing you before running off with your stuff?

 

[Sam1911]

Hold on, hold on... this isn't about what would he do for you, or did you shoot to would or kill, or whether it's the right thing or the wrong thing to want to render aid.

The real simple issues are these:

1) He just presented you with an immediate and credible threat to your life. He is HOSTILE. He is now down, but you know nothing more than that. The only reason you've fired your weapon is to prevent your own death or grievous injury. The threat is now (possibly temporarily) ended. BUT, if you stand down and approach him -- certainly if you get within first-aid distance -- he very well may resume hostilities against you, and you just walked right into his grasp. You don't know how badly he's really hurt, you don't know what's going on in his mind, you don't know if he thinks he's dying and wants nothing more in the world than to take you right to hell with him. DON'T APPROACH!

2) You do not have the personal protective equipment necessary to render this level of first aid without exposing yourself to whatever incredibly nasty blood- and fluid-borne diseases he may have. An EMT has everything from gloves to CPR Resuscitator masks to try and stop his/her own contamination. You don't (one would assume) so you don't risk your own life (and possibly your family's health as well) by contacting his fluids.

Look at it this way -- if you wouldn't have willingly had unprotected sex with this person (and I'm guessing you wouldn't ... ) then don't try to perform emergency advanced lifesaving techniques on him without protective gear, either!

Call 911, keep alert, watch for accomplices, and KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! You just risked your life and your freedom to prevent death or grievous injury. Don't waste that through a misguided attempt to be a good Samaritan.

 

[303tom]

Hold on, hold on... this isn't about what would he do for you, or did you shoot to would or kill, or whether it's the right thing or the wrong thing to want to render aid.

The real simple issues are these:

1) He just presented you with an immediate and credible threat to your life. He is HOSTILE. He is now down, but you know nothing more than that. The only reason you've fired your weapon is to prevent your own death or grievous injury. The threat is now (possibly temporarily) ended. BUT, if you stand down and approach him -- certainly if you get within first-aid distance -- he very well may resume hostilities against you, and you just walked right into his grasp. You don't know how badly he's really hurt, you don't know what's going on in his mind, you don't know if he thinks he's dying and wants nothing more in the world than to take you right to hell with him. DON'T APPROACH!

2) You do not have the personal protective equipment necessary to render this level of first aid without exposing yourself to whatever incredibly nasty blood- and fluid-borne diseases he may have. An EMT has everything from gloves to CPR Resuscitator masks to try and stop his/her own contamination. You don't (one would assume) so you don't risk your own life (and possibly your family's health as well) by contacting his fluids.

Look at it this way -- if you wouldn't have willingly had unprotected sex with this person (and I'm guessing you wouldn't ... ) then don't try to perform emergency advanced lifesaving techniques on him without protective gear, either!

Call 911, keep alert, watch for accomplices, and KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! You just risked your life and your freedom to prevent death or grievous injury. Don't waste that through a misguided attempt to be a good Samaritan.

What he said !!!!!

 

[lightman]

If a BG does something to cause me to shoot him,he is on his own.I agree that those of us who do not normally deal with violence may not know how we will react,but I do know that one storyteller is better than two. Lightman

 

[Zach S]

I got threads mixed up, as this subject has been covered a few times.

Sam1911 summed up how I feel pretty well. Due to my CPR, bloodborne pathogen, and first aid training from work, I know why I shouldn't render aid, and amazingly, a lot of that is common sense.

At work, injured associates are moved to the first aid room, although with more serious accidents, which I haven't seen, we can bring supplies to them.

I'll do what I can to help, which will most likely be me saying "Put pressure on that." I'm not going to leave a suspect alone while I get my bag. I suppose, if the shooting occurs as I'm walking out of the bathroom, I'd throw him a towel.

Look at it this way -- if you wouldn't have willingly had unprotected sex with this person (and I'm guessing you wouldn't ... ) then don't try to perform emergency advanced lifesaving techniques on him without protective gear, either!

LOL! Did you have the same first aid/CPR/AED class I did? My instructor said the same thing.

 

[alsaqr]

Look at it this way -- if you wouldn't have willingly had unprotected sex with this person (and I'm guessing you wouldn't ... ) then don't try to perform emergency advanced lifesaving techniques on him without protective gear, either!

Bingo!!! That says it all.

 

[Mike1234567]

I probably wouldn't render aid because he might take advantage of my kindness. Heck, I might not try to help even if I think he's unconscious because he could be faking it. Gee whizz... if he tried to kill me once why wouldn't he keep trying? I'm no longer physically capable of defending myself but, even if I was, I'd still hesitate.

 

[Loosedhorse]

I might give aid. From a previous post:

Now we do disagree if you feel that one should NEVER give first aid to an attacker. But, of course, that's up to each person. We could envision a scenario where the attacker is down, bleeding from a wound he can't stanch by hmself, and he begs for your help...with an open 911 line. You refuse. A possible outcome:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have heard expert medical testimony that the deceased victim [that is, the attacker] could have, despite the massive firepower viciously unleashed at him by the defendant [the defender], could have survived, if the defendant had bothered to grab the towel lying 3 feet away and simply applied direct pressure to the wound. But he chose instead to let the semi-conscious, helpless, troubled [mentally disturbed and/or chronically criminal] church-going [his mom confirms] youth [under, say, 30--he looked younger at his funeral] bleed to death while he [prosecutor points finger at defendant] cruelly watched, and coldly listened to his pleas for help. [Prosecutor again turns on 911 tape] "Please, help me. God, I don't want to die. Please. I'm sorry. Oh, God, I'm dying. Help, please, help. [Sobs, then after a while, quietly] Momma..." [then silence. Prosecutor turns tape off, again points at defendant] What kind of monster do we have here, ladies and gentlemen?"

Ahem. Would I actually give aid? Maybe, maybe not: depends on the circumstances. What I mean is that I would not preclude that possibility, simply because I was attacked. And if I chose not to give aid, I would have articulable reasons why, having considered it, I chose not to do so in this particular case, rather than a general principle of "police don't do it, so I shouldn't," "it's only safe to render aid after he's dead," or the ever-popular "hey, shooting him is no problem--but if I try to help him, I could be in big trouble legally."

Just me.

 

[x_wrench]

since my real medical or emergency first aid training is none. my extent of help would be calling 911, if i felt safe enough to do that. my first priority would be to make sure he was not going to be a threat again, and making certain that no one touched his weapon! my second priority would be trying to stay clam enough to answer the police when they arrived. if i was not able to retain my composure, i would simply not talk to them, until i had a lawyer. and really, who knows how we will handle that situation until we are in it.

 

[Neverwinter]

You would shoot to warn the perpetrator? Or shoot to kill the perpetrator? In a real life,no time to think twice, situation.

It's easy behind the keyboard. On the street,a little different.

I believe the ethical and legal action is to shoot to stop. Not to warn, not to wound, not to kill.


If you do have gloves, that would be sufficient to perform CPR with minimal pathogen risk. Modern CPR technique is emphasizing rapid chest compressions as sufficient.

 

[Powerglide]

I wouldn't help the little b----rd.They came to me. First aid, naw, legal issues then surface.

 

[SARDiver]

How many of us have seen a movie wherein the good guy shoots the bad guy, then walks up to the bad guy, stands over them with a lowered pistol, and says something really stupid?

And how many of us yell at the screen, "Don't be an idiot!"

I have, I do, and I won't help beyond calling the authorities. I will not put myself at further risk.