Cyclist seriously injured in Teddington

[glasgowcyclist]

From the London Evening Standard:

A woman cyclist in her 60s was today left lying seriously injured in the road for around 90 minutes before medics arrived, witnesses said.

Police said they were called to a crash between a cyclist and a car at Broad Street in Teddington - just a seven minute walk from the closest hospital - at 8.51am.​

GC

 

[Ganymede]

Thanks for posting this GC.

 

[raleighnut]

Dreadful waiting time for someone 3 miles from a hospital A&E, even in London 'Blues and Two's' clear traffic.
I wonder if it coincided with a shift change, but that's still no excuse. Disgraceful.

 

[numbnuts]

Fingers crossed

 

[Cuchilo]

That's local to me and the hospital is just the other end of the high street . Its a small hospital though with a walk in centre , I don't think they have ambulances on stand by there . West mid isn't that far away though !
Having just read the link im surprised the police didn't just give her a lift to Teddington hospital !

 

[CopperCyclist]

Dreadful waiting time for someone 3 miles from a hospital A&E, even in London 'Blues and Two's' clear traffic.
I wonder if it coincided with a shift change, but that's still no excuse. Disgraceful.

Nope. Since the government cut the Ambo numbers, this is usual. And yet despite cutting their numbers and rendering them unable to respond, they still fine them even more for missing their targets, meaning they will have to make even more cuts - ridiculous!

Five years ago if we asked for an Ambo, we would have one in around three to four minutes on average, even for an innocuous job. Now we have situations where I have been applying tourniquets to an arterial bleed on a wrist, using improvised materials, and yet still be told 'no ambulances free, can't give an eta'.

 

[raleighnut]

Nope. Since the government cut the Ambo numbers, this is usual. And yet despite cutting their numbers and rendering them unable to respond, they still fine them even more for missing their targets, meaning they will have to make even more cuts - ridiculous!

Five years ago if we asked for an Ambo, we would have one in around three to four minutes on average, even for an innocuous job. Now we have situations where I have been applying tourniquets to an arterial bleed on a wrist, using improvised materials, and yet still be told 'no ambulances free, can't give an eta'.

A tourniquet is not the best way to deal with an arterial bleed unless the wrist is almost completely severed, direct pressure on the wound is far better and if you are worried about possible HIV infection (on today of all days) wear the gloves in your first aid kit.

 

[screenman]

We witnessed an accident to a cyclist right outside Teddington hospital about 25 years ago, my wife looked after the women concerned whilst I run into the hospital, it took a lot of shouting on my part before anyone would venture out to help. The caring profession, not that time it was not, I was saddened by the attitude of the first 3 people in uniform who refused to help, one even suggested that there was a phone box nearby down the road. t was a doctor who came out of his office to see what the raised voices and shouting going on was before he walked over himself.

Mind you I had my tonsils out in the same hospital when I was 10 and they lost my records, so it seems it had not improved.

 

[slowmotion]

A tourniquet is not the best way to deal with an arterial bleed unless the wrist is almost completely severed, direct pressure on the wound is far better and if you are worried about possible HIV infection (on today of all days) wear the gloves in your first aid kit.

We were taught to apply pressure with a credit card. It had something to do with the plastic not sticking to the wound or something.

 

[addictfreak]

A little more about the ambulance delay:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30280628

 

[buggi]

That's local to me and the hospital is just the other end of the high street . Its a small hospital though with a walk in centre , I don't think they have ambulances on stand by there . West mid isn't that far away though !
Having just read the link im surprised the police didn't just give her a lift to Teddington hospital !

Because you can't just pick someone up who is seriously injured unless they were in imminent danger of death. She could have broken her back or neck but not been close to death. Even if you are yards from a hospital you should never just pick someone up who's been hit by a car. You should only move them if their life is in danger ie in the line if fast moving traffic or near fire, or to move them to give CPR. 90 minutes is disgusting but speak to any paramedic and they'll tell you what state the service is in and how knackered they are. Most are on the brink of leaving according to my paramedic mates because they can't cope with decisions made by poor management.

 

[Cuchilo]

Because you can't just pick someone up who is seriously injured unless they were in imminent danger of death. She could have broken her back or neck but not been close to death. Even if you are yards from a hospital you should never just pick someone up who's been hit by a car. You should only move them if their life is in danger ie in the line if fast moving traffic or near fire, or to move them to give CPR. 90 minutes is disgusting but speak to any paramedic and they'll tell you what state the service is in and how knackered they are. Most are on the brink of leaving according to my paramedic mates because they can't cope with decisions made by poor management.

From what I read of the report they delayed going to her because she wasn't in a serious condition .

 

[CopperCyclist]

A tourniquet is not the best way to deal with an arterial bleed unless the wrist is almost completely severed, direct pressure on the wound is far better and if you are worried about possible HIV infection (on today of all days) wear the gloves in your first aid kit.

All the more reason to have properly trained medical staff able to respond quickly then. He lived by the way.

 

[buggi]

From what I read of the report they delayed going to her because she wasn't in a serious condition .

Yes but they wouldn't have taken her themselves in case she had got a spinal injury. A guy at my work got up from an accident and went home only to find out a month later that he had a serious spinal injury. Literally walked out of work and his legs gave way. 6 years later he's still not quite right. Another girl got her partner to pick her up. 6 hrs later he had to take her to hospital and turned out she had two breaks in her pelvis. Adrenalin can cover all sorts of stuff. So they wouldn't take her even if it was a few yards.

 

[jefmcg]

All the more reason to have properly trained medical staff able to respond quickly then. He lived by the way.

Tourniquet will save a life, but much increase the chance of losing the limb.

When I did first aid, we were taught to apply pressure to the wound and artery (eg in the groin) if needed.

First aid training seems to lag a bit in the UK. I did a course in the 1990s in Australia, and was shocked to see in 2000 that the UK Red Cross was still suggesting tourniquets for snake bites, which are both dangerous to the limb and ineffective for venom (travels through the lymph system, apparently, which is not blocked by a tourniquet). I see the UK Red Cross is now recommending pressure bandages.