If you know him, you should call... severely injured rider inSacramento area

I was just riding home a few minutes ago and came across a rider who
had fallen. He was riding on the American River bike trail between
Sunrise and Hazel. Late 30s/Early 40s, balding, riding an Eddie Mercx
road bike. I came along shortly after he fell, before the paramedics
came. A lady was doing chest compressions. When the paramedics
arrived they continued compressions and used their portable
defibrillator, but they looked less than convinced that it was
working.

The paramedics could not find any kind of identification. If you
think you know him perhaps you should call.


PS: If you were one of the other riders there, shame on you for
calling him names like "idiot" for his choice to not wear a helmet.
You should, instead, have been thinking about how you should update
your CPR training, etc... it was disgusting to listen to.

"Rex Kerr" wrote: (clip) PS: If you were one of the other riders there,
shame on you for
calling him names like "idiot" for his choice to not wear a helmet.
You should, instead, have been thinking about how you should update
your CPR training, etc... it was disgusting to listen to.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree that there is an appropriate time to discuss these things, and this
wasn't it. Did he appear to have a severe head injury? It's entirely
possible that he died of a heart attack or a stroke.

I won't call him an idiot, but it *is* important to carry ID. How much
extra time will go by while his family worries about him.

BTW, CPR is preferably a two-person job. Weren't any of these big-mouth
idle bystanders willing to do anything?

On Apr 6, 6:21*pm, Rex Kerr wrote:
I was just riding home a few minutes ago and came across a rider who
had fallen. He was riding on the American River bike trail between
Sunrise and Hazel. *Late 30s/Early 40s, balding, riding an Eddie Mercx
road bike. *I came along shortly after he fell, before the paramedics
came. *A lady was doing chest compressions. *When the paramedics
arrived they continued compressions and used their portable
defibrillator, but they looked less than convinced that it was
working.

The paramedics could not find any kind of identification. *If you
think you know him perhaps you should call.

PS: *If you were one of the other riders there, shame on you for
calling him names like "idiot" for his choice to not wear a helmet.
You should, instead, have been thinking about how you should update
your CPR training, etc... *it was disgusting to listen to.

That's terrible. Living here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt--I'm used
to folks getting high on self righteousness, but even a Church of
Christ thumper would have been in compassion mode had they seen such a
scene, not in recruitment mode. **** those people.

Best of luck to the fellah and kudos to the gal that was quick on the
chest compressions. That's what you do at a scene like that. Doesn't
matter if it's a bank robber or a blader. When someone's heart stops--
don't judge.

On Apr 6, 5:44*pm, "Leo Lichtman" wrote:
I agree that there is an appropriate time to discuss these things, and this
wasn't it. *Did he appear to have a severe head injury? *It's entirely
possible that he died of a heart attack or a stroke.

The head injury didn't look too bad, but it was hard to say. I didn't
see any arm/hand injuries so I suspect that he may have gone into
cardiac arrest BEFORE falling. It was mid 80s and he had a fairly
nice road-bike so was probably pushing himself fairly hard. Nobody
saw it happen. There was really nothing out of the ordinary in that
area of the trail that would cause a fall.

BTW, CPR is preferably a two-person job. *Weren't any of these big-mouth
idle bystanders willing to do anything?

The discussions were after the ambulance had come...

landotter wrote:

Best of luck to the fellah and kudos to the gal that was quick on the
chest compressions. That's what you do at a scene like that. Doesn't
matter if it's a bank robber or a blader. When someone's heart stops--
don't judge.

Bank robber, sure. Or a meth addict, or a tow truck driver, or a
syphilitic three-legged possum, or even a mortgage broker-- they're
all God's children, to use Bible Belt patois. But resuscitate a
stricken fruitbooter? That's pretty big of you.

Chalo

On Mon, 6 Apr 2009 16:21:38 -0700 (PDT), Rex Kerr
wrote:

I was just riding home a few minutes ago and came across a rider who
had fallen. He was riding on the American River bike trail between
Sunrise and Hazel. Late 30s/Early 40s, balding, riding an Eddie Mercx
road bike. I came along shortly after he fell, before the paramedics
came. A lady was doing chest compressions. When the paramedics
arrived they continued compressions and used their portable
defibrillator, but they looked less than convinced that it was
working.

The paramedics could not find any kind of identification. If you
think you know him perhaps you should call.


PS: If you were one of the other riders there, shame on you for
calling him names like "idiot" for his choice to not wear a helmet.
You should, instead, have been thinking about how you should update
your CPR training, etc... it was disgusting to listen to.

Wrong place for helmet arg for sure - but going without any ID? That I
don't understand.

"Leo Lichtman" wrote:

I won't call him an idiot, but it *is* important to carry ID. *How much
extra time will go by while his family worries about him.


And a cell phone with an ICE (In Case of Emergency) entry.

Art Harris

On Apr 7, 3:03*am, Chalo wrote:
landotter wrote:

Best of luck to the fellah and kudos to the gal that was quick on the
chest compressions. That's what you do at a scene like that. Doesn't
matter if it's a bank robber or a blader. When someone's heart stops--
don't judge.

Bank robber, sure. *Or a meth addict, or a tow truck driver, or a
syphilitic three-legged possum, or even a mortgage broker-- they're
all God's children, to use Bible Belt patois. *But resuscitate a
stricken fruitbooter? *That's pretty big of you.

Comic book Jesus loves all of them two dimensionally.

On Apr 6, 10:37*pm, Rex Kerr wrote:
On Apr 6, 5:44*pm, "Leo Lichtman" wrote:

I agree that there is an appropriate time to discuss these things, and this
wasn't it. *Did he appear to have a severe head injury? *It's entirely
possible that he died of a heart attack or a stroke.

The head injury didn't look too bad, but it was hard to say. *I didn't
see any arm/hand injuries so I suspect that he may have gone into
cardiac arrest BEFORE falling. *It was mid 80s and he had a fairly
nice road-bike so was probably pushing himself fairly hard. *Nobody
saw it happen. *There was really nothing out of the ordinary in that
area of the trail that would cause a fall.

BTW, CPR is preferably a two-person job. *Weren't any of these big-mouth
idle bystanders willing to do anything?

The discussions were after the ambulance had come...

I certainly hope those characters gather at the scene of every
motorist fatality and every pedestrian fatality and exhibit the same
obnoxious behavior. Most of those fatalities "involve head injury"
too (to use the duplicitous phrase generally applied to cyclists).

- Frank Krygowski

On Apr 7, 8:41*am, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 6 Apr 2009 16:21:38 -0700 (PDT), Rex Kerr
wrote:



I was just riding home a few minutes ago and came across a rider who
had fallen. He was riding on the American River bike trail between
Sunrise and Hazel. *Late 30s/Early 40s, balding, riding an Eddie Mercx
road bike. *I came along shortly after he fell, before the paramedics
came. *A lady was doing chest compressions. *When the paramedics
arrived they continued compressions and used their portable
defibrillator, but they looked less than convinced that it was
working.

The paramedics could not find any kind of identification. *If you
think you know him perhaps you should call.

PS: *If you were one of the other riders there, shame on you for
calling him names like "idiot" for his choice to not wear a helmet.
You should, instead, have been thinking about how you should update
your CPR training, etc... *it was disgusting to listen to.

Wrong place for helmet arg for sure - but going without any ID? That I
don't understand.

It's easy to forget if you're wearing a monkey suit and riding lite. I
used to ride with only my phone which has emergency info. Now I rubber
band my driver's license to it. I've signed off of the back in case
anyone needs some spare knees and kidneys.