A good samaritan

[Tywais]

Came across an article at CM108. Appears a young Thai guy, 22-28 years old, lost control of his motorbike crashing it. A young lady, westerner, was across the street at a guest house/hotel and heard it. She came out and went over to him to comfort and console him and even hopped in the emergency service vehicle to continue aiding him. I found it touching but I'm sure some will say never help or they will blame you. Kudos to her.

Article with photos at CM108

[chiang mai]

Well done that lady, just as well she came out since the nurse just stood there doing nothing.

[AlexRich]

That was very decent of her.

In terms of being blamed if you help, is that an urban myth, or has it actually happened to someone?

[anto]

>>Well done that lady, just as well she came out since the nurse just stood there doing nothing.<<

You can not say that from that short clip .I am sure the nurse was involved at some stage .The Western girl God bless her was just giving emotional support .

[Tywais]

In terms of being blamed if you help, is that an urban myth, or has it actually happened to someone?

Seems to be a popular theme on Thaivisa though. I suspect there may be some degree of truth in it but probably not as a general rule. One problem is Thailand has no 'good samaritan law' to protect the individual legally when giving assistance. I realize the below is not Thailand but China but suspect there is some amount of the same concern here.

There have been incidents in China, such as the Peng Yu incident in 2006,^[13][14] where good Samaritans who helped people injured in accidents were accused of having injured the victim themselves.

The death of Wang Yue was caused when the toddler was run over by two vehicles. The entire incident was caught on a video, which shows eighteen people seeing the child but refusing to help. In a November 2011 survey, a majority, 71%, thought that the people who passed the child without helping were afraid of getting into trouble themselves.^[15]

Good Samaritan Law Wiki

[northernjohn]

Well done that lady, just as well she came out since the nurse just stood there doing nothing.

Never miss a chance to Bash.

Watch the video there was nothing she could do.

[chiang mai]

Well done that lady, just as well she came out since the nurse just stood there doing nothing.

Never miss a chance to Bash.

Watch the video there was nothing she could do.

Silly man, find me one single example of me Thai bashing in any post during the past twelve months, it doesn't exist.

[haybilly]

The 'myth' that those helping at an accident end up carrying the can, originates in India--where, to my knowledge, there is some level of truth.

[chiang mai]

The 'myth' that those helping at an accident end up carrying the can, originates in India--where, to my knowledge, there is some level of truth.

I think it also has a strong basis here, unless a person has a "first responder" certificate they are exposed legally and financially, the victim or their family can say, you didn't know what you were doing hence you contributed to the cause of death.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Maybe it's also worth debating if Good Samaritan laws are most needed in places with an out of control legal system where people can and do sue each other for the silliest of things.

Thailand suffers a lot less from that.

[KC 71]

She said all the right things- ive been there !

[Awk]

If I went face down off the bike, I'd certainly be happy if somebody stopped to help (as they did when it happened to me). Who would not? It's only fair that I'd do the same if I saw somebody else go down. In some cases, you applying pressure on a bleeding wound might make the difference between somebody bleeding to death before somebody more competent arrives, or surviving.

I feel only contempt for people hiding behind the "he might sue me if I try to help" excuse.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Awk

[anto]

She said all the right things- ive been there !

What did she say ?i could not make it out ,other than she saying at the end ''my bus leaves in the morning '' (in a South African accent ) .

Edited April 12, 2016 by anto

[richard_smith237]

I have helped at the scene of a motorcycle accident a few years ago...

Thai's also came to help, I ensured the guy was left on the floor where he was and not moved, I ensured he was breathing and not bleeding anywhere excessively.

I asked one of them to call the nearest hospital.

As it was night and the Injured guy was on the side of the road I asked a group of guys to position themselves down the street and and wave their phones to alert traffic.

When the ambulance arrived the medics took over and I just left. There was no one pointing the blame at anyone else.

I was also quite surprised at how receptive to directions and instructions those to came out to help where.

There are always a number of considerations and each situation must be judged individually: If it is safe to do so I'd always help again.

[KC 71]

She said try and stay still anto

[CMBob]

I feel only contempt for people hiding behind the "he might sue me if I try to help" excuse.

Rather pathetic to feel "contempt" for them. I can understand why people don't want to get involved (don't know what to do, worried they could make things worse, worried about getting sued, or whatever) and, while I wish more would be willing to step up to the plate, I hardly have ill feelings or contempt for them.

In any event, kudos to the young lady who tried to help.

[Suradit69]

I feel only contempt for people hiding behind the "he might sue me if I try to help" excuse.

Rather pathetic to feel "contempt" for them. I can understand why people don't want to get involved (don't know what to do, worried they could make things worse, worried about getting sued, or whatever) and, while I wish more would be willing to step up to the plate, I hardly have ill feelings or contempt for them.

In any event, kudos to the young lady who tried to help.

It really depends on the situation. If someone is really mangled in an accident or appeared to take a major hit to the head or spine, I would be afraid to do anything, not because of the legal consequences, but because I would be worried about making matters worse for the victim. Of course, absent anyone else on the scene, not attempting to offer comfort and summon emergency services would be contemptible.

Having witnessed a few comparatively minor accidents and one where a young motorbike rider without a helmet went full speed into the side of a pickup, in every case quite a few Thai people rushed forward to help. In those cases, some farang with no particular first aid expertise and limited Thai language ability joining in would seem pointless.

A while ago there was some supposed plan to put emergency defibrillators in various locations in Pattaya to be used in case someone's heart stopped. Nice in theory, but it seems like there was more potential for them to be misused despite all the good intentions. Not sure if there was any follow through on the plan, but sometimes the convoluted motto to "Don't just do something, stand there," is the better path to be taken.

Anyway, the woman whose action prompted the thread acted out of kindness, which was a good thing and judging by the hand-holding it did provide some comfort.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Suradit69

[dotpoom]

Sad, when an act of kindness is considered "out of the ordinary" and warrents a special mention.....that type of think was considered a normal course of action when I was growing up.

[Classic Ray]

When I was a police officer, I attended with other officers a reported stabbing incident, a young man with a chest wound. When i arrived other officers were giving him heart massage, causing blood to spurt from the wound. They hadn't even checked if his heart had stopped. We were all meant to be trained and qualified First Aiders.

I dragged them off and plugged the wound, doing the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) until the ambulance arrived, he went off and got treated. It was actually an unsuccessful suicide attempt which may have been more successful if I had let my colleagues carry on.

I don't believe the ambulance staff here are trained paramedics, and no traffic gets out of the way for ambulances, so just pray you don't have an accident and end up getting treated by an ex-UK policeman!

[mankondang]

In terms of being blamed if you help, is that an urban myth, or has it actually happened to someone?

Seems to be a popular theme on Thaivisa though. I suspect there may be some degree of truth in it but probably not as a general rule. One problem is Thailand has no 'good samaritan law' to protect the individual legally when giving assistance. I realize the below is not Thailand but China but suspect there is some amount of the same concern here.

There have been incidents in China, such as the Peng Yu incident in 2006,^[13][14] where good Samaritans who helped people injured in accidents were accused of having injured the victim themselves.

The death of Wang Yue was caused when the toddler was run over by two vehicles. The entire incident was caught on a video, which shows eighteen people seeing the child but refusing to help. In a November 2011 survey, a majority, 71%, thought that the people who passed the child without helping were afraid of getting into trouble themselves.^[15]

Good Samaritan Law Wiki

In western countries such as Australia etc, the law is such that even if you are a nurse or hold a senior first aid certificate etc, and you attempt to help a person in need,, and through no fault of your own that person deteriorates or dies, then you may be prosecuted. If you you stand by and do nothing you are considered innocent and blameless. So its up to you to choose legality or morality. The law contrary states, that you can be guilty of failing to render assistance, if, and I'll stand corrected here,if you were involved in an accident. Edited April 12, 2016 by mankondang

[ggt]

Dang, I was hoping the good samaritan was a Thai...they could use one in Chiang Mai...

[Broeno]

Its only civilized and human, Aldo the Thai law says you are only allowed to give aid if you have the skills.

[bazza40]

In my experience in Thailand, people who have a fall or accident here will usually have anything up to a dozen Thais clustering around to help set things right. Thais are instinctively Good Samaritans IMHO. It's far more likely to be falangs gawping from the sidelines.

I have yet to see legal tomes being consulted.

[Mudcrab]

In terms of being blamed if you help, is that an urban myth, or has it actually happened to someone?

Seems to be a popular theme on Thaivisa though. I suspect there may be some degree of truth in it but probably not as a general rule. One problem is Thailand has no 'good samaritan law' to protect the individual legally when giving assistance. I realize the below is not Thailand but China but suspect there is some amount of the same concern here.

There have been incidents in China, such as the Peng Yu incident in 2006,^[13][14] where good Samaritans who helped people injured in accidents were accused of having injured the victim themselves.

The death of Wang Yue was caused when the toddler was run over by two vehicles. The entire incident was caught on a video, which shows eighteen people seeing the child but refusing to help. In a November 2011 survey, a majority, 71%, thought that the people who passed the child without helping were afraid of getting into trouble themselves.^[15]

Good Samaritan Law Wiki

In western countries such as Australia etc, the law is such that even if you are a nurse or hold a senior first aid certificate etc, and you attempt to help a person in need,, and through no fault of your own that person deteriorates or dies, then you may be prosecuted. If you you stand by and do nothing you are considered innocent and blameless. So its up to you to choose legality or morality. The law contrary states, that you can be guilty of failing to render assistance, if, and I'll stand corrected here,if you were involved in an accident.

Rubbish

[anto]

In my experience in Thailand, people who have a fall or accident here will usually have anything up to a dozen Thais clustering around to help set things right. Thais are instinctively Good Samaritans IMHO. It's far more likely to be falangs gawping from the sidelines.

I have yet to see legal tomes being consulted.

Agree 100%

[mydee]

Absolute Nonsense Good Samaritan laws generally operate in Australia to protect someone coming to the aid of an accident victim provided they didn't cause the accident or they aren't drug or alcohol impaired. Where a nurse or doctor come to an accident victims assistance they may be sued in these circumstances is if the standard of care they provide is not equal to that expected of someone with their training. Just as they would if they provided substandard medical assistance in other circumstances.So do stand corrected and please don't post misleading or confused information.

In terms of being blamed if you help, is that an urban myth, or has it actually happened to someone?

Seems to be a popular theme on Thaivisa though. I suspect there may be some degree of truth in it but probably not as a general rule. One problem is Thailand has no 'good samaritan law' to protect the individual legally when giving assistance. I realize the below is not Thailand but China but suspect there is some amount of the same concern here.

There have been incidents in China, such as the Peng Yu incident in 2006,^[13][14] where good Samaritans who helped people injured in accidents were accused of having injured the victim themselves.

The death of Wang Yue was caused when the toddler was run over by two vehicles. The entire incident was caught on a video, which shows eighteen people seeing the child but refusing to help. In a November 2011 survey, a majority, 71%, thought that the people who passed the child without helping were afraid of getting into trouble themselves.^[15]

Good Samaritan Law Wiki

In western countries such as Australia etc, the law is such that even if you are a nurse or hold a senior first aid certificate etc, and you attempt to help a person in need,, and through no fault of your own that person deteriorates or dies, then you may be prosecuted. If you you stand by and do nothing you are considered innocent and blameless. So its up to you to choose legality or morality. The law contrary states, that you can be guilty of failing to render assistance, if, and I'll stand corrected here,if you were involved in an accident.

[bazza40]

Absolute Nonsense Good Samaritan laws generally operate in Australia to protect someone coming to the aid of an accident victim provided they didn't cause the accident or they aren't drug or alcohol impaired. Where a nurse or doctor come to an accident victims assistance they may be sued in these circumstances is if the standard of care they provide is not equal to that expected of someone with their training. Just as they would if they provided substandard medical assistance in other circumstances.So do stand corrected and please don't post misleading or confused information.

In western countries such as Australia etc, the law is such that even if you are a nurse or hold a senior first aid certificate etc, and you attempt to help a person in need,, and through no fault of your own that person deteriorates or dies, then you may be prosecuted. If you you stand by and do nothing you are considered innocent and blameless. So its up to you to choose legality or morality. The law contrary states, that you can be guilty of failing to render assistance, if, and I'll stand corrected here,if you were involved in an accident.

Agree. Road laws in Australia state if you are involved in an accident, you are required to "STOP AND RENDER WHAT ASSISTANCE YOU CAN".

Perhaps mankondang can cite court cases where someone was prosecuted for assisting at the scene of an accident?

[mydee]

Thank you that is correct, It is worrying that people can post hearsay or crap and dress it up as facts, especially on a website that offers advice to people, not only on visas but on other matters such as tax and pensions, some people may rely on this advice. Anyway I think the silence will be deafening. Mankondang's first port of call should be the Commonwealth Law Reports, and after that the State Law Reports. Here is a website that might help him. http://www.austlii.edu.au/databases.html#cth

Absolute Nonsense Good Samaritan laws generally operate in Australia to protect someone coming to the aid of an accident victim provided they didn't cause the accident or they aren't drug or alcohol impaired. Where a nurse or doctor come to an accident victims assistance they may be sued in these circumstances is if the standard of care they provide is not equal to that expected of someone with their training. Just as they would if they provided substandard medical assistance in other circumstances.So do stand corrected and please don't post misleading or confused information.

In western countries such as Australia etc, the law is such that even if you are a nurse or hold a senior first aid certificate etc, and you attempt to help a person in need,, and through no fault of your own that person deteriorates or dies, then you may be prosecuted. If you you stand by and do nothing you are considered innocent and blameless. So its up to you to choose legality or morality. The law contrary states, that you can be guilty of failing to render assistance, if, and I'll stand corrected here,if you were involved in an accident.

Agree. Road laws in Australia state if you are involved in an accident, you are required to "STOP AND RENDER WHAT ASSISTANCE YOU CAN".

Perhaps mankondang can cite court cases where someone was prosecuted for assisting at the scene of an accident?

[Konini]

If I went face down off the bike, I'd certainly be happy if somebody stopped to help (as they did when it happened to me). Who would not? It's only fair that I'd do the same if I saw somebody else go down. In some cases, you applying pressure on a bleeding wound might make the difference between somebody bleeding to death before somebody more competent arrives, or surviving.

I feel only contempt for people hiding behind the "he might sue me if I try to help" excuse.

In some countries it's a criminal offence not to help - I believe in the land of litigation they have Good Samaritan legislation so you can't be sued later.

In Australia if you hit a roo or a wombat or any other animal you are legally obliged to do something. Many country roads have signs up with the phone numbers of wildlife rescue charitys. If you hit a dog in a street and it's injured I wouldn't want to be putting it in my car and taking it to a vet. I'm not sure who would be liable for the bill there, but that's what you're supposed to do. Don't know if you physically have to do that or just phoning someone - who knows who? Council I suppose or State Emergency Service volunteers, but it's illegal to just drive off. Victoria, other states may differ.

I would never pass by someone who needed help, road accident or just fainted or having a turn. Once I was deeply traumatised after coming across a man who had slit both of his wrists good and proper on a street in Geelong. Was out for a day trip with husband and his parents who were visiting. Early days of mobile phones, one of the only times I was glad my work forced me to carry that brick around with me. Emergency response told me we had to stay with him until the ambo arrived. He was conscious, trying to talk, they told me I had to keep him talking. It was horrible. I had nightmares about it for maybe a month afterwards - wake up in a cold sweat nightmares - but it wouldn't stop me doing the same again.

It's our moral duty to help people in these situations - if we didn't, what kind of person would we be?

EDIT: Since then, and it was more than 20 years ago, I've always had plastic gloves in my purse - not my bag which I chop and change depending on where I am going, but my purse which goes everywhere with me. Call it a wallet to avoid confusion. It's no bother - every pack of hair dye has a tiny flat packed bag, maybe 1 inch by 2 and not as wide as a satang, with very lightweight gloves in it. I've used them or given them to someone else to use (and got a new pack) several times.

[Konini]

When I was a police officer, I attended with other officers a reported stabbing incident, a young man with a chest wound. When i arrived other officers were giving him heart massage, causing blood to spurt from the wound. They hadn't even checked if his heart had stopped. We were all meant to be trained and qualified First Aiders.

I dragged them off and plugged the wound, doing the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) until the ambulance arrived, he went off and got treated. It was actually an unsuccessful suicide attempt which may have been more successful if I had let my colleagues carry on.

I don't believe the ambulance staff here are trained paramedics, and no traffic gets out of the way for ambulances, so just pray you don't have an accident and end up getting treated by an ex-UK policeman!

I don't think I would dare in the case of lots of blood and gore and bones sticking out and such, I know basic first aid and CPR but have no medical knowledge. Apart from my aversion to blood and guts, I would be scared that I would do something to make it worse. I know basic stuff like not moving people, putting them into the coma position and putting something on minor things bleeding to stem the flow, but beyond that I think I would just freeze. Who knows, unless it happens and I hope I'm never in that position, but I'm saying now I'd freeze and not want to worsen the situation but adrenaline might take over and I'd be able to do something.

I applaud those who help in major accidents, particularly the untrained.

And the ambos here aren't ambos at all. I had a funny turn a few years ago and the doctor who owned the place I was staying phoned for a ambulance. I have little recollection of it - I remember being on a wheeled stretcher and being clattered across some gravel or some very uneven surface then I have a flash of my husband sitting above me sweating like I've never seen him sweat (he's bald) then nothing until the next day. He said they were just drivers with an offsider and flashing lights and sirens. No equipment, not even a first aid kit. and no air conditioning in the back of the van. Unless there's a back or neck injury you would be just as well to hail a songtaow or stop someone with a ute/pickup/truck and throw them (gentle of course) in the back and tell the driver to go as fast as he can. Nobody seems to move out of the way for flashing lights and sirens here.