If someone starts freaking out at an accident scene...

It's your story. Decide what you want to happen and write it well enough to convince me that's what happens and you're golden.

The situation you're describing could be handled any number of ways, depending on the era, location, and personalities of the people involved. I'd say you're good to go--just convince the reader that what happens is the way it really would go down in your world.

Good luck.

What DeleyanLee said. But just from my own small experience...

I got forced off the road by a big rig and rolled my truck... It was the third accident I'd been involved with in as many weeks, and my "cool" just snapped. I started crying and couldn't stop. The cop who was talking to me clearly thought I was nuts, but he just kept asking me, very calmly, if I was okay. I kept reiterating that I was, I just couldn't stop crying, and he took my blubbering report and sent me off with the tow truck guy. At that point I was literally clutching a teddy bear to my chest (I'd been moving during college) sobbing unconsoleably, like a three year old.

So I think cops and other emergency workers know that people freak out sometimes, but as long as they seem moderately under control they are probably not going to cart you away.

for reals, jo!!

I had a guy freak out on me when I got in an accident. Screaming, yelling, acting like he was going to kill me. Then, two seconds later, he's sitting on the curb, cool as a cucumber.

Yep, I would think emergency personel, etc. would be pretty understanding in a situation as traumatic as that sounds. Now, after the fact, they may have questions about who she is, family, etc., but at the time, I think they would mark it up to normal hysteria.

ink wench said:

Jo, eek! I'd have been a total mess too.

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I thought God was trying to kill me.

An EMT would probably deal with this as an anxiety attack. Different EMTs deal with this in different ways. Personally I'd probably put her on a non-rebreather with a low O2 flow. Concentrating on breathing can be helpful in calming a person down (same as the paper bag trick). Check out her vitals and make sure she wasn't involved in the accident.

If she wanted to go to the hospital, I'd probably be happy, and put her in the front seat. Keep her with the main patient when we get to the hospital and explain to the doctor/nurse about the anxiety attack and to keep an eye on her. As a minor, police and fire/rescue would want to make sure someone took responsibility for her, and transporting her with the patient is the simplest way of doing that.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Just wanted to say, can't wait to read your book! Sounds like a great story.

Hey, I was in a very similar situation to this when I was 16 (minus the psychopumps & reapers ) I wrecked my car and my boyfriend was with me and hurt. Like Jo, it was the culmination of an incredibly bad week and I totally freaked out.

Yes, the paramedics let me ride in the ambulance. They pretty much ignored my freaking out completely, though I had to sign some document refusing treatment for myself (how was that legal since I was 16? No clue, but that's what happened!). I was not admitted to the hospital (thanks to the document I signed, I think). I was not made to take any drugs or talk with anyone other than police for the accident report. No-one called my parents. I eventually called them myself from my cell phone, to come pick me up.

How much of this was standard procedure and how much was different because it was the middle of an ice storm with over 200 other simultaneous accidents in my county? No idea, and not going to try it again on a more normal night so I can find out!

ink wench said:

Here's the scenario: A girl watches her boyfriend get hit by a car as they're crossing the street. The boyfriend should be dead given the hit, but the girl isn't a normal girl. She fights off the psychopomps/reapers/etc. that have come to take the boyfriend's soul, and as a result he'll live. No one else can see those creatures though, so to the bystanders and the paramedics (when they arrive) she looks like she's screaming at/fighting with invisible people. Eventually she calms down because the creatures disappear, but she wants to hover over the boyfriend in case they come back.

What would happen to her? She's 17, and has no parent/guardian that anyone will be able to reach. Would she be taken to the hospital for observation herself? Would the paramedics let her ride in the ambulance - she's the only person around who knows the victim? Would she be forced to talk to someone about what happened, or given something like Valium?

Am clueless. Thanks!

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I would think that so long as she's not hurting anyone that they can see (herself or otherwise), they'd probably chaulk it up to nerves/reaction to the accident. And they'd probably take her with them since she's not only a witness to the accident and has the boyfriend's information they're probably going to need at the hospital, I"m sure they want to have her checked out there as well, just to be safe.

They might check her pupil reaction time thinking she night have been hurt, too and bumped her head. They try to talk her down a bit. "Miss? Miss? Are you OK? Were you hit? No? OK, then come sit down. Try to breathe normally. Would you lie a little oxygen?


....


Feeling any better?"


These guys and gals are trained to work with freaking folks. They don't act like cops, who have another job to do. If a cop was helping her, he'd turn her over to the paramedics as soon as they showed up.

charlotte49ers said:

I think they would mark it up to normal hysteria.

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Now there is an oxymoron for ya! Love it.

I've worked accident scenes and as long as the girl isn't interfering with the people treating the injured boyfriend, she'll be pretty much left alone, or someone will in a low-key way get her to talk and calm down.

You expect people to freak out when their friends and family have been injured.

In your scenario I would worry about a head injury causing severe personality changes.