Have you ever saved someone's life or found a dead body?

[Benski]

Sometimes I think back over some of the crazy thing that have happened in my life and remember saving a person from drowning, a friend who was passed out, choking and unable to breath, and rushed someone into the ER who was poisoned. He lived 2 more days then died. Sadly 2 and possibly all 3 of the incidences were alcohol related. In high school I was cutting class with my best friend to visit some girls and as we were leaving I saw something laying on the track, that turned out to be the body of someone who had a heart attack while running that past evening. I was the first one to get there...

*I didn't intend for this to be graphic or depressing and saving someone's life is an amazing thing. Since I have been through both situations I was curious if others have had similar situations.

 

[Antman]

My Mom was choking on a piece of fruit last year. I walked into the room, and the entire family was just paralyzed watching her choke - she was close to passing out. It was pretty crazy!

3 sharp blows between her shoulder blades, and it dislodged the fruit. That's as close as I've come to saving someone FWIW.

 

[TOY2G]

As a police officer in Oregon, I was working day shift and had just started driving around some local housing. I noticed a pair of shoes sticking out of a ditch, I did a second take because they were laying where I could see the bottoms, and pointed away from each other. Turns out they were attached to a 16 year old kid. Turns out he was walking home from a party and was so intoxicated that when he crossed the road, he fell in the ditch. He was wearing baggy pants and a wife beater tank top, Oregon in Feb is cold, and in the end he succumbed to the cold.

I have seen several dead bodies and sadly in only Two years as a police officer, 3 of them were children. I do not know for sure if I have ever saved a life, I would like to think so.

 

[bolantej]

Working fifteen yers in a hospital, I have only done chest compressions once. Noticed a few patients going South, and passed the info along, but I usually leave after they get going on the real iife saving stuff.

 

[ndcent]

My wife and I were in Barcelona, walking down the side walk in light rain, her with a umbrella over her head. Traffic was tight and there was NO stepping off the sidewalk as buses whizzed past, but apparently she was oblivious.

She stepped out into the street carelessly and I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back onto the sidewalk the exact second one of those big busses shot past, missed her by inches and pulled the umbrella from her hand.

She still has no idea how close she was to being hit. Freaked. Me. Out!

 

[the great him]

sadly yes, working with the sheriffs office and doing search and rescue i have help recover bodies and found bodies, its kinda surreal... also when i lived in CA i was an EMT and we got called (dont know why, nothing for us to do) on a "well fare check" to an elderly ladys residence along with the sheriffs office and she had died several days, probably weeks or so earlier, it was well over 100* out and there was no AC in her place... as soon as you opened the door it was bad. i had a young girl die in front of me after she was hit by a car in a parking lot(i was one of the medics that resonded to the crash), she was alive when we got there but died on scene. there was nothing we could do for her, we called lifeflight but time was our enemy. that was probably the hardest one for me to swallow, as i was a fairly new medic and it was pretty brutal and grapic.

 

[Ian97]

Tried saving my dad, did cpr until paramedics showed up but he didn't make it....trying to keep my mom calm while doing cpr.....that was a challenge....

That was 5 years ago this June 13th, he was 70 years old.

I think of him every day, I have a picture of him and I taken probably 15-18 years ago right next to his box of ashes in my home office.....

-Ian

 

[Benski]

Bump!

 

[lbhsbz]

Was at my folks for dinner a month ago with my 20 month old....he choked on a piece of food and looked like he cleared it like he always does...I had my eye on him...he was a little too quiet....the he started leaning over and lost the color in his face. I jumped up, had him out of his chair, flipped over my arm and a couple blows to the back, piece of steak came flying out....he's screaming (2nd time i've been happy to hear this) and all was well. I'm glad momma drug me to those baby CPR/first aid classes.

Probably normal for most parents, but still gave me a bit of a mind**** later that night.

 

[rebelbowtie]

i once rescued a sinking fishing boat and its crew, i'm in the Coast Guard….

 

[BucknutBob]

i once rescued a sinking fishing boat and its crew, i'm in the Coast Guard….

You guys don't get nearly enough credit for the job you do, going out into seas that would make most people crap their drawers! Your branch of service may not be "combat-oriented", but you definitely earn your keep.

 

[rebelbowtie]

You guys don't get nearly enough credit for the job you do, going out into seas that would make most people crap their drawers! Your branch of service may not be "combat-oriented", but you definitely earn your keep.

thanks for the kind words, its a fun job too! that was my first save and i remember it like it was yesterday, i had just gotten off watch (2000-2400) and i layed down in my rack and hear the general alarm going off and they made that rescue and assistance pipe. all hands man your WQSB and i was off on the small boat bringing dewatering equipment to the sinking vessel. it was so awesome.

 

[Titanpat57]

Used to work with a dive club in Penna. with water SAR's ...found a 6 yr. old girl in about 30' of water...very sad day.


Also came across a horrific Jeep rollover on the NYS Thruway about 20 years ago at dawn heading North bound. Both young men were expired by the time we pulled up.

 

[SCRunner12]

I don't know if I saved the kids life, but possibly. I was working at a summer daycare and we had a pool day. I was watching one section of the pool and noticed a kid walking along the edge in front of me. He didn't know how to swim and was instructed to hold onto the ladder or edge of the pool if he was going in. Probably 15 seconds later I look over and he was under the water and flailing around. I just dropped to the ground, reached in and grabbed his arm. He was shaken up, but nothing serious.

I haven't seen any deceased people up close, but I did see a person who had jumped off the overpass onto the freeway. She was halfway under a tarp when I drove by.

 

[BucknutBob]

I don't know if I actually saved this guy (he's very athletic and probably would've made it out somehow), but I had a buddy that went swimming shortly after lunch and cramped up all of a sudden. I was the only other one around the pool, and saw him sink in the deep end. I can barely swim well enough to save myself (LOL), so I did the only thing I could think of and, taking a deep breath, dove below him and pushed him up by his feet from the bottom. He popped up and drifted to the pool's edge, and after we were both out, we had a good "Phew, that was scary!" moment. As for the other topic, I came upon a huge wreck on the hgihway once, where the EMTs were already working, and there were at least 2 or 3 bodies lying on the ground perfecty still, but thankfully I didn't see much else. I'd just as soon pass on finding one too close, thank you very much.

 

[4gin007]

When I was around the age of 23 24 I had all my friends piled into my tahoe coming back from richmond va to newport news va, bout a 45min drive, late at night 4am. We had been partying in richmond and my crew was asleep, while Im struggling to stay awake at the wheel. Now where about 10min from the house on the interestate when I noticed something in the middle of the road, I was in the left lane and merged over onto the shoulder to avoid whatever it was. I drove by it at normal speed and barely caught the glimpse of a mangled body. I woke everyone up in the truck exclaiming there was a fu#*in body in the middle of the road mangled to pieces. I whipped the truck around into an emergency cut thru in the middle of the interstate and headed back towards the scene, nobody in the truck believed what i saw. As i was driving the opposite direction I noticed a big rig pulled onto the shoulder. So again i had to make another u-turn to head back in the direction of the scene, mind you there are no cops or medics at this time. As soon as I got turned around a state trooper flew past me, now my friends knew something was up. As we approached the scene agian everyone clearly saw what I had a glimpse of, a mangled, twisted, destroyed, young male body. Apparently the young man jumped off the overpass into the front of the big rig and ended his life. That is one of the craziest things Ive ever seen.

 

[emelianenkov]

My dad is 50 years old and has major complications from diabetes he's had since he was 4, gradually getting worse. When I was 4 or 5 I found him unconscious and having a seizure. Luckily my mom is an OR nurse and has taught me how to deal with these things. I managed to open his airway and keep him breathing until she could take over for me.

I've found him with a blood sugar of 12, inches away from a coma.

There are too many close calls with him for me to remember. He hasn't been home since the beginning of February, he's just been in the hospital. I know it may sound horrible some to people, but at 17 years of age, I've come to terms with the fact that my Dad's days are numbered and some day, hopefully not too soon, he won't pull through. And people wonder why I'm often dark and seem overly mature for my age... :/

 

[bigslimdog]

I'm a police officer for a municipal department here in MD. One night during a vehicle pursuit the suspect vehicle hit the rear of another vehicle at over 100mph. The suspect vehicle flipped multiple times and the other vehicle instantly burst into flames. Myself and another officer ran to the car in flames and pulled the driver from the burning vehicle and dragged her away quickly. Within a few seconds the entire car was engulfed. She lived and we caught the bad guy, can't ask for better than that.

Also, I've found more bodies than I care to think about. Worst part of my job IMO.

 

[hube01]

Yes, I have seen more death then I can remember; from trauma and medical. Additionally, I can't begin to remember how many people I have seen die in from of me.

Much of the time these individuals die form senseless reasons and had they just thought things through, it might have been different. One in particular was a 15y/o kid who was ejected out the sunroof. He was dead when I arrived with massive trauma to his head, yet I still gave him the benefit of the doubt and worked him for a few minutes. I also didn't want to have to look into his parent's eyes and tell them I did nothing. I still remember the state trooper's look when I told him it was time to stop..... That is the hardest part of my job...

 

[Atlanta_man]

grizzly subject
but I've seen two, actually first to find them, years apart
both relatives
suicide and alcohol poisoning