Can you stay calm or fall apart

16 years ago

I had just stepped onto an escalator to go down a floor in a store and I noticed a man with an elderly woman getting onto the escalator to come up. The lady hesitated, she was obviously nervous about getting on. The man was very attentive and was holding onto her by her arm. They both got on and started to come up. Suddenly the woman lost her balance and fell straight back. She landed with her head at the foot of the escalator and her feet up on the stairs. I immediately yelled for someone to stop the escalator. I was so afraid of her hair or clothing getting caught! We checked to make sure she could move everything and eventually got her on her feet. She was terrified to even move. Finally we got her into a chair, got her a glass of water and some crackers to nibble on. She seemed OK, just shaken up.

I on the other hand was a mess! I left calmly but I was shaking inside. I was so afraid she had really hurt herself.

My DH says I'm a magnet for this kind of stuff. I always seem to be the one around when this kind of thing happens.

Everyone says thank you, thank you and I feel a mess. I look calm but I'm really not!

How are you in an emergency? Calm or a Wreck?

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Comments (29)

kayjones
16 years ago
Calm during - wreck after it's over!
irishdancersgram
16 years ago
WOW, You reacted pretty darn good in that situation, I don't know if I'd have been so calm...I'm usually a wreck...I had been in a department store years ago and heard screaming...A small girl, maybe 8-10, had gotten her shoe string caught in the escalator and it was pulling her closer and her leg was rubbing against the side..Everyone went running and finally they did get the thing stopped and I expected to see 1/2 her foot gone, but thankfully she just had a few scrapes...I've often wondered, what would I have done, had I been closer, would I have been calm enough to do what had to be done....I think, in an emergency, you jump in and try to help and then when it's over, alot would fall apart...
Good for you, you done good!
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Thank you all for your posts.I'll try to answer all your questions. "if this were your biological son who abused your step daughter, how would you handle the situation??" I would do everything in my power to help him and make any sacrifices that were required of me. 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ronf_gw
16 years ago
Calm during, but, if it's really bad I need some "down" time to recover afterwards.

Ron
socks
16 years ago
Tell us how the escalator was stopped.

Poor lady. She'll probably never get on a escalator again. Find the elevator.
chubby_rat
16 years ago
I knew I hated escalators for a reason! I'm dreadfully afraid of them.If I do have to get on them I close my eyes til I'm near the top(Larry tells me) LOL!
I am normally calm during an emergency but feel sick afterwards.
kathi_mdgd
16 years ago
Calm during,fall totally apart after.
Kathi
Lindsey_CA
16 years ago
It depends on the nature and scope of the emergency, and how equipped I am to handle it. If it's something for which I have been trained or have experience, I'm calm throughout as well as afterwards. If it's something for which I have no experience, I'm outwardly calm, but a mess inside, during, and shaky afterwards.
czech_chick
16 years ago
Calm, then a wreck later.
chessey24
16 years ago
Usually calm and then a wreck afterwards. When my DD was very little we got on an escalator and she had a on a pair of boots one of which got caught as we went to get off. Fortunately, I was able to scoop her up and out of the boots but it did a pretty good job of chewing up the toe of her boot before they got it stopped. I didn't have to tell anyone there was a problem, she did a pretty good job of it.
monica_pa Grieves
16 years ago
Calm...I'm known for it. Crazy thing is, i'm better in an emergency than in normal times. I guess I need the adrenalin to function.
carol_in_california
16 years ago
As a retired ICU and ER nurse, I am calm and usually stay calm.
lulie___wayne
16 years ago
It's really weird. I think I have a really strong armor when I have to have it. If someone I don't really know or love has something happen, I get more upset about it than if it's someone I love. When Christin (my daughter) had her accident and passed away from it, I was alone (except for a few friend) for the first several hours. Both DH and son were out of town hours away. I was very calm and stayed that way throughout the day and then for the funeral, etc. Knowing me from past experiences, if it had been someone else, I would have been very upset. Does this make any sense at all? I just think that it's my inner self preservation kicking in that makes me very strong when I have to be. I get shaky and upset if I see strangers in a car accident. Okay, I'm a strange bird. lol
LU
mariend
16 years ago
I usually act instead of react until after all is done. Then I go to pieces and go into a shock condition and talk, and talk, and talk until DH threatens to use duct tape. It take me several days to get me under control.
As to reaction to a death of a friend, relative, sometimes our bodies just kind of shut down and that is to protect us from going completly pieces. God gives us the right amount of strength to handle what we can. Later our mind/body starts the healing process.
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
16 years ago
Main Man and I witness a Motorcycle accident, where the rider was killed and the motorcycle caught on fire after hitting a sign. We still shutter when we talk about it and that was at least a year ago. We were calm enough to call 911.

Gayle
ronm80
16 years ago
I have never experienced that kind of emergency, but I am so impressed with your reaction.
tegwyn
16 years ago
I can remain calm during almost anything but...I had to perform CPR on my 18 month old daughter two years ago. She lived. I was able to dial 911, perform CPR, give clear medical history to the paramedics and hold it together until we returned home several days later from the hospital. It hit me then and I went to the bathroom to privately cry for 1/2 hour.
teresava
16 years ago
I might seem calm, but I'm a wreck inside. When DD was 1 she had a seizure and had to go to the hospital. Luckily everything was fine, but I literally was asking the doc if I could have a tranquilizer before we left. I don't think I ate for 2 days. It was an odd feeling like I was scared of her. I guess I was just scared if it happened again etc. I tend to overreact when she gets sick now (just normal flu bugs etc). I could NEVER be a doctor or nurse, so thank goodness someone else can!! I get VERY uneasy around sick people.

Lulie-This isn't the same comparison at all, but I cry at every wedding I attend or see on TV. I figured for my own I'd be a mess, but nothing! I don't really even remember crying at my own dad's funeral (I was a little kid) even though I thought that's what I "should" be doing. Years later, I went to my friends grandmother's funeral, mainly just to help-hand out programs, help set up the food etc. I didn't even know this woman, she was very old and lived a good life and I bawled my eyes out at the service!
Linda Wayman
16 years ago
I'm a lot like Mush. I appear calm on the outside, but on the inside I'm having a breakdown. I think that comes from having to be the main caretaker of so many people in my family almost my whole life and having to be responsible.

Linda
FlamingO in AR
16 years ago
I've always stayed pretty calm, I don't know if I disassociate from the situation or what, but I do what needs to be done when it's happening and then I'm all charged up for about an hour or two afterwards. I can't remember ever crying or shaking afterwards, but I usually do get nightmares.

Usually at the top and bottom of every escalator there is a big button with a cover over it and signs for emergency shut-off. Always good to know where they are. Good job, Mush, in helping with that woman!
liz
16 years ago
Calm during...afterwards, I usually have to excuse myself and go throw up...

Ya done good Mush...you were that womens Angel!
dotmom
16 years ago
Fortunatly, I haven't been tested often. The one time that comes to mind,is when we lived in the country, dirt roads all around, and it was mudd season (spring) I was making supper one night when the neighbor girl knocked on the door and asked it I could come over because he Mommy was having the baby. The lady had tried to drive to town but the truck got stuck in the mudd and they did't have a phone. I turned off the stove, and ran across the field to their house. The lady was on the floor and was pushing. Just as I got to her, the baby came out, and was crying right away. I told the little girl to run back to our house and ask my DH to call for an ambulance. I wrapped the baby in a blanket and gave her to her mother, who was so calm through the whole thing. The afterirth came and I just covered it with paper towels and left it on the floor. The mother was still on the floor and I got a blanket for her and we waited for the ambulance. They had to drive through a couple of fields to get to us and when they came, along with our Barny Fife like, town cop. He asked her is this your first baby, she said "Hell no, its my last!" It was her 4th.
I had a hard time containing my laugh watching the young intern picking up the afterbirth to take it along to be checked. He was gagging the whole time. On the way to the hospital ( the mother told me this afterwards) they had the siren on and she asked them what the hell was the hurry for. The excitement is all over.
I have been asked what I did the whole time, and I said I went to the window a lot asking "My God, arent they coming yet!!"
summer_tx
16 years ago
I may look calm, but I'm far from it probably. I want people to MOVE and get things done in a HURRY. I get frustrated more than anything. I mainly think back on my sister when we've had to take her to the ER a few times. I think I'm handling things as calmly as possible, and do for her sake, but inside I'm a wreck. It catches up with me later and I'm exhausted.
DYH
16 years ago
I am calm during the emergency and take care of things. I fall apart when it all settles down and no one is around.

I once provided aid to a really horrifying car accident for one victim (the car went underneath a tractor trailer, taking off the top of the car). I was calm and the victim's family thanked me. To this day, I am still haunted by it.

Another time, I was returning a video rental. The woman in front of me had a cast on her leg. I looked out the window and her car was rolling with a child in the front seat. I ran outside, jumped into a rolling vehicle and stopped the car. I have lots to say about how she left that car and child, but I just acted on impulse and didn't think about it at the time.

Anyway, those stick in my head the most.
Cameron
scraphappy
16 years ago
I'm a retired nurse, and able to be calm in a crisis, but like most others here, have to have a time later to process the event and react a little. One summer DH and I were on vacation at a fishing resort with another couple, very close friends of ours, and the husband was a known heart patient, had had several bypass operations, etc. but was stable enough for the trip. We were out to lunch in a nearby very small town and soon after we left, just sitting in the car outside, he started complaining of back pains, general discomfort, and when asked, said he "wouldn't mind going somewhere to be checked out" so I just walked back into the restaurant and said "there's a heart patient out here who's having chest pains". Right away people sprang into action, and the local rescue squad was there in minutes - this was a small burg - if you blink when you drive through, you probably miss it, and the volunteers manning this squad most likely didn't deal with many true crises. I noticed the one young man checking our friend's BP was visibly shaking as he applied the BP cuff and I felt so bad for him. BTW, friend did ok, spent a few days in an ICU getting stablized and drove home a week later!
lindyluwho
16 years ago
Calm and take care of the crises during - I'm a wreck afterwards. One time DH split his knee open while we were camping and needed stitches. He refused to go to the local hospital (bad rep) so I drove him back to town (an hour trip). Stayed calm. Had to wait for awhile in the ER. Stayed calm. Got the knee stitched up. He's fine. I nearly pass out. That's when they started taking my BP and made me lie down for a few minutes.

Linda

I guess it would be worse to fall apart DURING the crisis!!
marilyn_c
16 years ago
I am usually calm, but depends on the situation. Sometimes I wonder if I lack adrenaline, because I am so calm. I almost never get mad or excited. It has to be something very personal to me.
susanjf_gw
16 years ago
fairly calm...

mush thanks so much for helping...i always cringe and have been known to warn kids playing on escalators...(dh works in the field)

my grandmother would NEVER ride them. have found since i wear bi-focals it can be difficult to transition simple stairs let alone ones that move!
jannie
16 years ago
THere are stop buttons on the top and bottom of every escalator. Instead of screaming or running for help, everyone should look at the next escalator they get on for these buttons and be prepared to push it if necessary. My husband fell backwarrds on an escalatror once ,and a good samaritan pushed the button for him. He was shook up but not hurt,thank goodness.
bettyswwa
16 years ago
After 11 years as an EMT I am pretty o.k. in an emergency but if it is someone I know my heart tends to race. When I was younger I was a wreck when something happened. Mom always got a call to come quick and she lived 4 miles away. LOL

Can you stay calm or fall apart

Comments (29)

kayjones

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