The driver in the other car gets out rubbing his head with blood dripping down his face. You yell and make sure he is okay. He nods.
You are now looking at people through the windows of the car. They are starting to go into shock from the accident and a panicking. You try to calm them down, but nothing you say can calm them down, they just want out of the car. You try to put yourself in their shoes and know that you will just want out of the car as well. So you start helping the person in the car get out.
Pause.
Growing understanding from television has taught you in a situation like this, you would want to not help them out of the car because they shouldn't move until the ambulance gets there and assess the victims. You know there is a possibility of a broken bone in their back or compression of the spine that could paralyze them if they move. On the other hand they are struggling to get out of the vehicle and you don't want to just stand there.
But in reality, if you help move them out of the vehicle and they become paralyzed because of their movement, they could potentially sue you for making them paralyzed.
Resume.
You begin to pull the person out of the vehicle and help pull out their family. You notice that one of the passengers is not waking up despite their parents yelling at them and screaming. You crawl into the car to make sure that the passenger is still alive. You listen and they aren't breathing. You begin to breath for them, by doing CPR.
Pause.
You may not know this or you may know this information, but if the victim dies while you are doing CPR, the family could potentially sue you.
Resume.
You continue to do CPR to help the victim breathe. You can now hear the sirens in the background getting closer and closer. Finally, when you are just about of breath, the paramedics run up and put their oxygen mask over the passengers face and takes over for you.
After 15 minutes of the paramedics do work on the passenger, they are finally breathing on their own. You take a deep breath of relief once you are given this news. The rest of the family is being checked out by paramedics and advised to go to the hospital via ambulance.
The police officer is now walking towards you and you begin your statement of what caused this accident. You are given a card with the officers name on it and you are thanked for your time. You take a deep breath, and begin to shake as the adrenaline is starting to wear off. Everything is starting to catch up to you.
Stop.
We all know the rules of life and you shouldn't move after being in a car accident due to fear of paralyzation. We may or may not have known about the risks involving CPR. And we, as journalists, know that we could get sued if we keep a source confidential. We all know that if we spill hot coffee on ourselves, we could possibly sue the company.
America has grown into a world of suing. Would you honestly sue someone for trying to save a family members life? Would you sue someone for doing what we wanted at the time? Would you sue someone who you knew was going to publish the quote and it went to trial your quote couldn't be kept confidential anymore? These don't make any since but they are true. You make the choices to ask for help, you made the choice to comment on the issue at hand.
Would you be able to just stand there and watch as someone is forcing themselves out? Could you just stand there and watch someone die?
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