51 thoughts on “The better angels of our nature”

    1. Idiots.

      Even if “the rules” insist that such action must be taken, it should be accompanied by a handsome bonus that more than covers any lost wages for the period of the suspension plus a press release that both praises the heroism of the worker and indicates the need for a revision of the rules.

      b&

        1. I don’t know where cause and effect lie, but it’s damned clear that there’s a profound correlation between being in management and being a complete and total blithering fucking idiot about certain things.

          (Yes, yes — there are exceptions. Damned few, though.)

          b&

          1. Anyone in management has either been promoted to, or beyond, their own level of incompetence, or is on their way there.

            Rare exceptions excepted.

            The worst cases work in Health & Safety, or to give it its full title, ‘Health and Fucking Safety’, which has nothing to do with condoms.

          3. We had a case in the UK where a woman fell down a disused mineshaft while crossing some rough ground. It was a 40 foot fall but she was alive. Fire fighters were called. One fireman had descended and was ready to bring her to the surface (by winch). A senior officer arrived and halted the rescue because of ‘health and safety’ considerations. It was decided to call a mountain rescue team. It was six hours before she was brought to the surface. She had a heart attack during the ascent and died.

          4. Damn. The senior officer should be fired with prejudice, and the fireman who descended should be given the open position.

            And, really, ideally, the guys on the scene should have ignored the officer, but I don’t blame them for trusting that the guy who was supposed to know what he was doing but in fact didn’t.

            b&

          5. The senior officer has prospered. At the inquiry he regarded the ‘rescue’ as a ‘success’ but expressed regret that he had not arrived early enough to prevent the descent of the firefighter who comforted the woman for 4 hours. The firefighter who assisted the woman spoke out at the inquest. He has received no commendation or support from the fire service. This ‘health and safety’ mentality has become endemic in the UK. Police, firefighters and paramedics must slavishly adhere to bureaucratic, minimal risk, regulations.

    2. And good to see Bob Crow putting the boot in on behalf of his member’s rights.
      There’s a middle management prat at – what was the train company’s name? C2C? – who is regretting having got on the wrong side of Bob. He has never been renowned for his toerance of fools or his subtlety.

  3. I saved the life of my neighbor with the Heimlich. She can rushing out of her back door unable to make a sound. One sharp shock and out came her piece of steak, which she then ate. She wasn’t a particularly nice person, so immediately afterwards was a bit socially awkward. I didn’t really want a hug or anything, and she didn’t really want to give it! So she went back inside to finish her dinner, and I went back to pushing my girls on the swing set.

    The whole experience was not nearly as satisfying as I thought saving a life would be, so it’s a good thing I’m not a doctor!

    2. I, too, once saved someone’s life, and received only abuse in return (it was a suicide attempt), but I did what I had to do. I also saved a cat’s life — now that is something I’m proud of!

  5. That kid on the escalator…scary…just something my kid would have done at that age. Nice catch though.

    The CPR guy started compressions awfully quick. Does it look like he checked for a pulse first?

    1. That was my first thought too and it’s highly unlikely that he would have revived her that quickly, if at all. When I took a first aid course, the instructor said you’re mostly just buying the victim some time for the ambulance to arrive.

      She probably just fainted.

    2. No pulse checking anymore. CPR I to begin with an unresponsive, not breathing person. check if the person I conscious and breathing. Looking for. Pulse can waste valuable time.

  6. Take that, those who think that humans are rational maximisers. None of that makes sense from that point of view, but then nothing in biology (including human biology) makes sense except in the light of evolution, and we are above all cooperative and empathetic apes.

        2. That’s curious. I seem to recall that chest compressions in CPR carry a rather high risk of breaking ribs, but that broken ribs are much to be preferred to cardiac arrest. I’d think that similar logic would apply to choking, and I can’t imagine the Heimlich maneuver carrying a significantly different risk of injury than chest compressions.

          b&

          1. Better to get blood to the brain than worry about broken ribs. In any event CPR is unlikely to revive anyone except in the case of drowning or choking…and hope that the medics show up before long or there is an AED to help out.

          1. I was always taught that back blows can lodge the item deeper. So, being a skeptic (yay us), I went to ARC and MayoClinic to see what they recommend. They do recommend back blows, but only if you can get the victim leaning forward. They also still recommend the Heimlich:

            Mayo
            Give 5 back blows. First, deliver five back blows between the person’s shoulder blades with the heel of your hand *.
            Give 5 abdominal thrusts. Perform five abdominal thrusts (also known as the Heimlich maneuver).
            Alternate between 5 blows and 5 thrusts until the blockage is dislodged.

            *These steps conform with ARC except they have you lean the person forward first.

            Kevin is right about the pulse thing, although I can take a pulse in a couple of seconds on the neck. Who wants someone pounding away if their heart hasn’t stopped?

          2. So simple, leaning forward would probably make a big difference for back blows; curious why that is not emphasized as much. Though I have seen the Heimlich performed flawlessly at a restuarant to save a life and it was rather anticlimatic, except for the lodged food flying over three meters away…impressive.

            I personally cannot even find my own pulse…so no go there.

  8. Is anyone on this site a Crossfitter? The more I am exposed to this . . . community, the more I am impressed. Currently there is an adventure taking place in which 2 members of Crossfit Headquarters are traveling south through North, Central, and South America on motorcycles on their way to Santiago, Chile. They are filming their journey along the way and finding, despite hardships that are more frustrating than anything, that humans by and large are a wonderful part of this beautiful planet. Pat Sherwood, one of the two motorcyclists, has come to this conclusion after having traveled through Mexico, all of Central America, Colombia, and into Peru on the journey. He relates his discovery here: http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_GoSouth_Ep09_2Ian_SD.mov

    While the current men’s Crossfit Games champion, Rich Froning, is, unfortunately, a devout Christian, Crossfit does not promote religion of any sort. They have created a nice world wide community with their ideals and methods. The internet has allowed it to be so widespread in such a short time, and, I feel, helps to establish that world wide sense of community Crossfitters share.

    This is, to me, a prime example of how humans, moral at their core, behave nobly without direct influence from any religion, or any source really other than themselves.

    1. “Crossfit does not promote religion of any sort”

      Crossfit is itself viewed as rather cultish by many in the fitness community. You will find many articles on the net by people that consider themselves recovering crossfitters.

        1. “widespread adherence…paleo diet”

          Lot of pressure in cults to increase the commitment level. And if a little bit is good, more is even better, right?

          (Nice blog, BTW.)

  9. People really should be more careful in subway stations. I always press myself against the wall. When I was in Boston, people were crossing them to get to the other side!

    My dad once stopped his car to help an old lady who had fallen on the road. People behind him honked and started yelling (and they could see what was going on). Yeah, nice attitude – so you aren’t delayed, we should just run over a lady who fell on the road!

    Be careful out there – you never know what you’re going to get – nice people or people with no perspective! As a Canadian comedian used to say, “keep your stick on the ice and remember, we’re all in this together”.

  10. People’s natural reaction is to help when they see a fellow creature in need; it takes a lot of work to talk yourself out of that, which is why there is a whole conservative movement dedicated towards it.

    2. Actually, I was thinking how most people wanted to help, but did a lot of milling around or maybe waving at the train. Then one person would come flying out from nowhere and take action, like jumping on to the tracks in front of a train.

      1. I’m sure people are more likely to take action when they’re the only one present. I know that I would be reluctant to initiate CPR on someone because my training was 20 years ago; I would be looking around for someone more qualified, unless there were no alternative.

        And jumping down onto the train tracks requires someone fairly athletic and strong, which probably rules out a big chunk of those watching.

        I’ve also read that people most likely to act are the one’s who have rehearsed certain scenarios in their minds.

  11. My son successfully performed the Heimlich on a lady who was choking at a Chinese buffet. All the while everyone else was yelling at him he was doing it wrong. No, he did it exactly right, and he paid no attention to the peanut gallery.

  12. This case is even worse than you think:

    Her first husband, Brian Sprout, died of sepsis in 2007 after sustaining and failing to seek medical treatment for a leg injury, a Lane County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant said when the Bellews were arrested in February. Brian Sprout was the biological father of three of the six children placed in state custody Monday, as well as of Austin Sprout.

    A state child welfare worker revealed Monday that Russel Bellew also lost a spouse from a prior marriage, Randi Dawn Bellew, who died in Sisters in 2008. She was the biological mother of two of the remaining children. The sixth child was born to Russel and Brandi Bellew in 2010.

  14. This media rare view of humanity, as opposed to the daily online staple of inhumanity, has me sitting here sobbing in a way I have never sobbed viewing atrocity on a screen. Beautiful. I needed that. Thank you for sharing it.

  15. When someone is choking, patting them on the back is not recommended. I have more training at my job than god, but I can tell anyone tht CPR is the most important thing we have to take and anyone should take it at least once. AEDs are also becoming more prevalent, which is a good thing…hurray science.

      1. I checked on this and the key seems to be to get them leaning forward first so the food doesn’t get pushed downward into the airway.

        My daughter’s female pediatrician when she (the daughter) was two had to do this health and safety questionnaire. Do you put your kids in car seats? Yes. Etc. She asked me what I’d do if my daughter was choking right now. I said, “Hold her upside down by her ankle and slap her on the back”. She looked at me for a few moments and finally said, “That’ll work”.

        One other question was, “Do you smoke in bed?” Without missing a beat, I turned to the wife and asked, “I don’t know honey. Do I?” She replied, “You certainly do, dear”. The doctor turned red and then laughed. We’re still friends 18 years later.

        1. I had heard that as:
          Doctor: “Do you smoke after sex?”
          Patient: “I don’t know…I’ve never looked.”

          Boom-tish

  16. When I was about 14, I was sucking on a boiled sweet when someone cracked a joke and down it went. I stood up and looked at everyone sitting around the table. Everyone, without exception, was looking back at me in horror. I staggered into the adjoining room and was met with exactly the same useless expressions of horror. As I was about to pass out, I noticed my father coming coming into the room from the hallway. He took one look at me, appraised the situation instantly, rushed over, and saved my life.

    BTW, he used the turn upside down and sharp blow to the back technique. To this day I don’t know if he made it up on the spur of the moment. The boiled sweet dislodged from my trachea and disappeared down my oesophagus. I’ve been unable to put one in my mouth since.

    1. One day I was on a training course, and feeling the worse for wear. Something to do with the instructor having taken the bunch of us to the pub the night before, and things going well. I remember something about one pint of beer and two pints of pickled eggs in one pub. Only one of the juniors got arrested, and he talked his way out of the paddy wagon.
      But not feeling so great at the start of lectures at 08:00 the next day. Which wasn’t helped by the instructor turning to me and telling me that I was going to be presenting the afternoon session on calibrating the machine, because he only knew how to biuld them, not use them.
      Still feeling under the weather, I set down to write a lecture for the calibration procedure … and someone passed me a painkiller, which I gulped. Half way down. “Errrr, Aidan, you’re meant to dissolve it in a glass of water and drink it, not swallow it!”
      Not quite choking, but very close for about a half hour until the damned thing dissolved. These days I just let the hangover run it’s course, hurrried along by fruit juice and caffine-flavoured caffeine. With caffeine.

  17. I had to watch the scene at about 2:00 a couple of times to see that it belied my preconceptions – the bald middle-aged man is the villain and the young guy with the tough guy (almost skinhead-at first I thought he was a punker) haircut is the hero. Coiffures aside, it’s good to recognize how error-prone my snap judgments can be.

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