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Crashing Pine Mountain

Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
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Location
Houston, TX
First Name
Anthony
Last Name
Martinez
Today was supposed to be a good ride for me and some friends headed up to Atlanta for the night. Instead it turned into a lesson in field expedient emergency aid. The route was to be simple - US 27 out of Columbus, GA to GA 190 (Pine Mountain), ride GA 190 until it hit GA 36 and ran into US 19 north into I-75 into Atlanta.

Roughly 12 miles into GA 190 I ride into a decreasing radius left turn with an elevation change - uphill into the turn, downhill out of it. I checked my rearview after my front end bobbled a bit exiting the turn just in time to see my friends Mark and Sarah lowside and go off the road. The u-turn skills I honed in the MSF ERC kicked in, along with a healthy dose of adrenaline. The SV stood up quickly, slowed down and whipped around and I twisted the grip to get back to them.

If I said I didn’t think Sarah was dead while I was riding back to them, I would be lying to you. All I saw was her laying face up and not moving, with Mark standing above her looking confused. Luckily I was quite wrong and she was just laying there trying not to pass out. After convincing myself that nothing was broken, I helped her get out of the helmet and jacket so she could breathe.

While this is going on, I realize I don’t have any first aid supplies with me. My tank bag had the following inside:

* 1 long sleeved shirt
* A toothbrush and toothpaste
* Deoderant
* My Digital RebelXT and lenses
* Gerber multitool and a whet stone

None of that is going to fix a broken person. Clearly I need help because I have bleeding friends - so I turn to the road and attempt to flag down fellow motorcyclists. To my surprise, and quite honestly disgust, no less than 10 motorcyclists rode right past us looking at the wreckage and going on their merry way. One guy did stop and ask if we needed help - in the course of small talk we find out he’s stationed at Ft. Benning as well, A. Co 3BN 75RGR RGT. That’s right, we just happened to end up with a Ranger to help us out. He didn’t really have any first aid gear either, but he did have a clean undershirt, and water - which was better than I could do with just a clean shirt and no water.

The two of us cut the shirt up, washed some wounds off, and applied our makeshift field dressings while another family - apparently parents of a Boy Scout - pulled over to give us water, and call for more help. In the end four LEOs were on the scene, an ambulance, a fire truck, four first responders, and the medical examiner. Apparently the word was that two riders crashed head-on. I guess someone assumed that since my bike was parked facing Mark’s bike that we’d crashed into each other.

Anyway, Mark and Sarah are both ok. I’m quite certain neither is feeling great right now, but it could have been much worse. Both have banged extremities on their left sides. Mark’s forearm is pretty much all road rash right now, and his knee is pretty skinned up too. Sarah’s left hand is fairly well beaten up, and her knee has seen better days.

Tomorrow I’ll post pictures of the bike, and their helmets. If there’s any point to this it’s simply WEAR YOUR GEAR.
 
:tab And use delayed apexes to better negotiate those nasty decreasing radius curves... My only two getoffs were low speed decreasing radius curves. Fortunately, because of the low speed, I was uninjured both time and literally walked away without even any dirt on me. Cracked the crankcase open on a rock the first time and just got some scuffs on the bike the second time. I got off easy when learning that lesson ;-)

:tab Sorry the ride went sour. I hope they heal up well and aren't too emotionally traumatized about riding!
 
They both seemed in pretty good sprits yesterday - Sarah says she'll ride again, in a month or so. Mark won't let a little thing like crashing his bike keep him from riding. This kid was hit by an IED, burned his backside, and volunteered to go on a mission two days later with a bandaged rear end.
 
Wow, I've always heard to never remove the helmet of someone who's been down....I refused to take mine off when I wrecked my bike, the only thing that was removed from me was my gloves so I could see my hands. My helmet and jacket stayed on until I got to the ER. Broken parts or not, I wasn't taking the chance that I was just in shock and couldn't feel something was broken.

Glad no one was seriously hurt and hope everyone is back on 2 wheels soon ;-)
 
Scary. Another thing that I worry about around here (Dallas) is that if you go down, or stop at an accident, chances are high you will be run over minutes later by some knucklehead not paying attention.
:giveup:
 
I was pretty hesitant to take her helmet off as well - it was a decision myself and the Ranger made based on our CLS (combat lifesaver) training. He kept her neck still while I removed the helmet and we didn't let her move after that - at least not until the paramedics got there and ok'd her for travel back to the ER at Martin Army Community Hospital @ Ft. Benning.

Anyway I just put together a "patch 'em up till the real medics show up" kit to ride with under my seat. Guess I broke my own rule of always being prepared. I had my 9mm with me... but I wasn't prepared for an emergency of the medical nature - at least not as prepared as I should have been.

108295747_46d23677ce.jpg

several bandages both square and wraps, bactine spray, and neosporine + pain relief, acetominphen, some medical tape, 4 pairs of gloves, and two 45" athletic shoe laces should I need to splint anything or make a tourniquet.
 
I had my 9mm with me...

I suspect the local authorities would frown on putting down injured riders on the roadside... ;-)
 
Glad your friends are all right, Pine Mountian is a nice riding area for South Georgia. Rode it several times when we lived in Villa Rica
 
Glad to hear that your friends are alright. I'm also glad to see that you have some type of first aid kit. I carry a small EMT bag and two C-Collars in a side bag. But as you know, supplies are no good with out the knowledge. Everyone should take some type of first aid class plus CPR. IMHO
 
Thanks - I was a Boy Scout at one point, naturally the first aid merit badge was one of my first, I did a stint as a lifeguard one summer, and then there's the first aid stuff they teach all soldiers in basic, plus the additional stuff they taught me in RIP, and then the CLS (combat lifesaver) course before I deployed.

I think the one advantage the .mil first aid training has over the civilian variety is I can't recall in any of the Red Cross stuff ever going over working an injury with no real supplies on hand. In the field you may only be carrying one field dressing, say you've got 4 friends shot, and one or more is shot more than once - you're out of dressings and the bleeding won't stop all by itself (not in any good way anyway). Shirt sleeves, boot laces, belts - that stuff all turns into supplies when it needs to.
 
glad they are both ok!

going down absolutely stinks and having a friend go down is about the worst thing I can think of. In my case she was ridding pillion, but its all about the same.

I keep my LifeGuard current which entails CPR, First Aid, and AED/O2 certs. what I don't carry is a first aid kit. I really should build one of those real soon.
 
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