Lifesavers Take Big Risks

While driving home from work recently, I happened upon an accident. I am a medical technician at the Air Force Survival School and I stopped to help.

The victim had been hit by a car while trying to cross the street. He was unconscious but had a pulse and was breathing. However, he had multiple external wounds and was bleeding profusely.

All we could do was support the victim and try to prevent further injury. Everyone’s arms and hands quickly were covered in blood.

The victim’s heart quit beating, he stopped breathing and we initiated CPR. Due either to blood volume or failure of the face shield someone gave me, I got a substantial amount of blood in my mouth. Once paramedics arrived, we were able to don gloves and provide treatment until the victim was transported to a hospital.

I contacted the hospital to explain what had occurred and to ask if a series of blood tests could be done to rule out any transmitted diseases. Twice I was told someone would call me back. After several hours with no response, I asked to speak with the nurse in charge who told me that even if the tests were done, the results would not be released to me.

It took several frustrating days and dozens of phone calls to find out the policy. I spoke with fire departments, ambulance companies, state offices, public health services, an epidemiologist and various agencies trying to find out what to do. I finally was fortunate to be referred to Dr. Daniel Leong who helped me.

The state laws were well-defined and the hospital was within its rights to refuse me access to this information, but I feel it could have provided some guidance on how to get help.

The best thing to do in a case like this is to contact the public health department. Based on the severity of the exposure, it will determine if screening is indicated. If so, it first will try to obtain family consent. Failing that, a court order can be obtained.

I was lucky. Dr. Leong was able to get family consent and all tests turned out negative.

The last thing I am trying to do is discourage people from stopping to assist a fellow human, but the law seems a little harsh. I feel people who risk exposure to body fluids while helping someone should have access to the information it took me a week to get.

I now carry gloves, face shields and other barrier protection in my car.

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.