Hi, as a part of the main plot, I have a father driving with his two teenaged kids when their car is hit by a drunk driver on a busy Chicago street. Both the father and son are in critical condition (the father dies at the hospital and the son ends up paralyzed from the waist down) and the daughter has some serious bruises, seems dazed but will be okay. After the paramedics show up and take them to the emergency room, who would contact the rest of the family at their home? How long would it take for the family to be notified about the accident after the dad and his kids are at the emergency room. How long would it take from the moment the accident occurs to when the victims arrive at the hospital? The accident occurs about 4 miles from the hospital and the story is set in January of 2008. Would there be a difference in time if it happened in the morning, afternoon or evening? Thanks for your help.
Who contacts the family after a serious accident
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When our daughter was in a serious accident about an hour from home in 2003, the local police came to our door. Apparently the state police contacted the local PD to have them do a face-to-face notification. The officer was good at what must be an unpleasant aspect of the job, and he reminded us that when we drove out there, to take it easy, because one accident was enough.
He led with the fact that our daughter was not injured. (There was a fatality.) He gave an overview of what had happened, and told us where she was and the name of the person to ask for when we got there.
I can't remember how long after the accident he arrived, but probably about twenty minutes.
Maryn, who spend the next five years being sued, because she owned the car
He led with the fact that our daughter was not injured. (There was a fatality.) He gave an overview of what had happened, and told us where she was and the name of the person to ask for when we got there.
I can't remember how long after the accident he arrived, but probably about twenty minutes.
Maryn, who spend the next five years being sued, because she owned the car
Normally, your local police. If you don't live in the jurisdiction of the accident, the responding police will contact the local police for whomever is being notified. One reason you see "the names of the victims are being withheld pending notification" in accident reports on the news. It can take time to track the family down, so use whatever time you need for the story and add a reason. Family was out shopping, etc.
Local officer normally does this face-to-face but it can be a phone call, especially if a victim asks for a family member to be called. So write it however you need your story to play out.
Jeff
Local officer normally does this face-to-face but it can be a phone call, especially if a victim asks for a family member to be called. So write it however you need your story to play out.
Jeff
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If there is a fatality or a life-threatening injury, the police will usually do it, with a chaplain if they've got one. Otherwise the hospital does it.
With the last question, do you mean how long would the ambulance take?
It's one of the most horrible things you have to do. And there's rarely any formal training on how to do it best.
With the last question, do you mean how long would the ambulance take?
It's one of the most horrible things you have to do. And there's rarely any formal training on how to do it best.
When I was in an accident and seriously injured, my parents were contacted a little over an hour after the accident. That's largely due to how long it took 'em to identify and stabilize me. Once they had my ID, someone from the hospital called my parents. They were told "your daughter has been in an accident. please come to Truman Medical Center." Nothing about how seriously I'd been injured (or if I'd been injured at all). It wasn't until my parents were at the hospital that they were told how bad it was.
Caveats:
-This was in a reasonably urban area.
-Weather was bad and all the cops were out taking care of other accidents/shutting down highways, so they probably couldn't have spared someone to make an in-person visit.
Caveats:
-This was in a reasonably urban area.
-Weather was bad and all the cops were out taking care of other accidents/shutting down highways, so they probably couldn't have spared someone to make an in-person visit.
Thank you everyone. Based on your replies, it sounds like it could either be the police or the hospital that would notify the rest of the family (which in this story it would be the mom, since it would make sense that the daughter, even if she's dazed, would be asking for her and the police could find her mom on the daughter's cell phone).
Melindamusil, what you said about how the hospital notified your parents sounds exactly what a nurse from the hospital said to me when my dad had a fatal heart attack at the nursing home where he was staying. But in this case since it's a major car accident on a busy local street, it would make sense that it would be the police that would be contacting the mom, with either the option of face to face or a phone call.
Would the police be more likely to deliver the news face to face if you live in a small town or if it's in a big city like Chicago, would a phone call be more likely? Neither option really affects the story, I just want to make sure it sounds realistic.
Melindamusil, what you said about how the hospital notified your parents sounds exactly what a nurse from the hospital said to me when my dad had a fatal heart attack at the nursing home where he was staying. But in this case since it's a major car accident on a busy local street, it would make sense that it would be the police that would be contacting the mom, with either the option of face to face or a phone call.
Would the police be more likely to deliver the news face to face if you live in a small town or if it's in a big city like Chicago, would a phone call be more likely? Neither option really affects the story, I just want to make sure it sounds realistic.
Random thought, Littlebit...
IIRC, many hospitals will at least try to have a chaplain present when they are informing next-of-kin of a death or serious injury. I don't know if one was present in my own situation, and honestly I don't think the presence or absence of a chaplain would seriously affect the believability of a scene... so, totally random thought.
IIRC, many hospitals will at least try to have a chaplain present when they are informing next-of-kin of a death or serious injury. I don't know if one was present in my own situation, and honestly I don't think the presence or absence of a chaplain would seriously affect the believability of a scene... so, totally random thought.
Random thought, Littlebit...
IIRC, many hospitals will at least try to have a chaplain present when they are informing next-of-kin of a death or serious injury. I don't know if one was present in my own situation, and honestly I don't think the presence or absence of a chaplain would seriously affect the believability of a scene... so, totally random thought.
Thanks, I forgot about this. This would definitely fit into the story since the family (with the exception of MC and older sister) are devout Catholics and the presence of a chaplain would be realistic. I don't remember if there was a priest present at the hospital where they took my dad after he died in the ambulance.
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When my mom died, the detective plus two support workers accompanied my father to tell me. However, the case was rather different from yours in many significant ways...I'm just mentioning it because maybe a crisis worker would accompany the police officer? Not sure.
Hi LJD, I'm sorry about your mom, I hope this isn't bringing up some bad memories. There could be a social worker present, especially since the mom is having a very hard time dealing with it (it's bringing back some bad memories of when her father died). Would the social worker stay for long if the mom is surrounded by her other family members (her older kids, sister, mom, brothers/mother in law?)
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We usually use one ambulance per patient, resources permitting. There are situations where I had two patients in the back, but under regular conditions we only take one, especially if they're seriously injured, since we need the room, the equipment and the manpower. Generally Operations knows how many casualties there are and dispatches accordingly.
As to how long, that's really difficult to say. It depends on how quickly EMS can respond, whether or not the patients have to be extricated from the car, traffic and so on. We try to spend as little time as possible on scene with a critically injured patient, but sometimes you have to wait for a bit while the police secure the scene and the fire department does its thing. Rush hour could be a problem, too. A good EMT knows to avoid the congested areas, but it's unpredictable. Sometimes you avoid the usual morning traffic jam, then get stuck on a side street behind someone's fender bender and thirty seconds later you're boxed in. Even if people were less inclined to ignore lights and siren it can be difficult. Under ideal conditions (EMS close by, no traffic, no lengthy extrication), maybe fifteen minutes minutes overall. I don't know Chicago, though.
Hi Asroc, thanks for the insiders information. Especially in Chicago and in the area I'm picturing the scene, traffic can be tricky (add in the fact that it's early March with a winter storm moving in) but it's about 5 min away from the Eisenhower expressway with the hospital at the next exit, so could be fast or slow.
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I work in a large teaching hospital in the Chicago area. From what I've seen on my end, it can take 20-30 minutes for the first responders to get the patients stable enough for the trip. Of course, if there's extrication from the vehicle involved, it can take a lot longer. I've seen the EMS documentation use the term "prolonged extrication" when it takes an hour or more.
Suggest you google "golden hour" of trauma--this may give you a lot more information. Another dandy resource is the book "Body Trauma", written by a writing doctor for novelists.
Suggest you google "golden hour" of trauma--this may give you a lot more information. Another dandy resource is the book "Body Trauma", written by a writing doctor for novelists.
Andreas_Montoya
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Many medics, once the patient is stabilized, look at their cell hone directory for ICE, In Case of Emergency. Everyone should have their emergency contact number in their cell phone.
When I wrecked my Harley an off duty nurse found me first and called my daughter, "I don't know who he is and I don't know who you are, but I just found this man in the middle of the highway. He wrecked his Harley and you are his emergency contact number."
When I wrecked my Harley an off duty nurse found me first and called my daughter, "I don't know who he is and I don't know who you are, but I just found this man in the middle of the highway. He wrecked his Harley and you are his emergency contact number."
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I would think this would depend on how the mom's doing, how the family is at comforting her. If the family seems to have it under control, I would think the support worker would leave, unless the family wanted him/her to stay. But all I know is what happened in our case.
My father didn't think the crisis support workers were really necessary. He said the detective was good, and she would have been sufficient. My dad went back to the house with the detective, and the necessary investigation was completed and he made phone calls. I don't know when exactly the support workers showed up. All I know is that they were there when I was told--I was the only one that was told in person, and that was a few hours later. No one but my dad and I said anything, and at one point I said, "Who the hell are these people?" and later made a point of introducing them to my boyfriend (strange the things you bother doing at times like this). They were at my apartment for maybe 15 min, then I left with my father.
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Seconding Andreas's advice always to have I C E numbers in your cell. It stands for "In Case of Emergency" and I made both my daughters input I C E 1 and I C E 2 numbers into their cells. 1 is my husband and 2 is me--just in case one of us is tied up or can't answer the phone.
Make things as easy as possible for first responders, that's my motto.
Make things as easy as possible for first responders, that's my motto.
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While ICE is fundamentally a good idea, EMTs will rarely look for it. Notifying next of kin is not our job and if the patient is in such bad shape he can't give his emergency contact a medic will have other things to do than dig around in the patient's cell phone. Nurses at the hospital are far more likely to take advantage of this than medics.
More importantly, with the rise of smartphones actually finding someone's ICE entry, if any, can be really difficult. Lots of people lock their phones and even if not, there are so many different models and OS varieties that it can take forever to work out just where the app drawer is and where in there the patient keeps his contacts. Plus phones break, they get lost, stolen, their batteries die...
So, if you want to make it easy to find your emergency contact:
a) put that info on your lock screen so people can access it without having to guess your PIN.
b) have a physical backup as well, like a piece of paper in your wallet.
</end PSA. Carry on.>
More importantly, with the rise of smartphones actually finding someone's ICE entry, if any, can be really difficult. Lots of people lock their phones and even if not, there are so many different models and OS varieties that it can take forever to work out just where the app drawer is and where in there the patient keeps his contacts. Plus phones break, they get lost, stolen, their batteries die...
So, if you want to make it easy to find your emergency contact:
a) put that info on your lock screen so people can access it without having to guess your PIN.
b) have a physical backup as well, like a piece of paper in your wallet.
</end PSA. Carry on.>
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(We've printed vital info--phone numbers, addresses, insurance and medical information--and adjusted the font to make it fit on a credit-card sized printout carried in our wallets for years. Do we get bonus points? Nah, the bonus is never needing it, I guess.)
I was at my best friend's house in 2005 when the officers arrived to tell her her husband (a long-haul trucker) had died on the road. (His codriver had lost control of the rig in another state, crashed it through a bunch of stuff before it exploded. They both were killed instantly.) No, they didn't use the phrase "been involved in a fatal accident." Though "fatal accident" was used several times, they didn't play around with the news.
There were two local officers and no support staff. They informed her that there were grief counselors available that could be there within the hour. She agreed they should be called. The officers offered to stay until they arrived, which she refused.
This was in a northern suburb of Detroit, FWIW.
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Well, in America that depends. The experts advise plain language with no euphemisms, but many PDs don't actually train their officers in this.
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It mightn't be EMTs that look for the I C E number -- it may be police department members, or community service officers, or even the ER. I worked reg in an ER and sometimes finding those loved ones' numbers was pure torture (this was before cell phones).
Andreas_Montoya
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We had a pretty long transport to the hospital, 1 1/2 hours. So, once the patient was stable, I'd look for an ICE number. This was before most people had smart phones.