Yesterday (Sunday, Nov. 21) a maroon SUV plowed into a parade crowd in Waukesha, Wisconsin. This was a massive atrocity. How could we help if we happened to be on the scene? 

1. "First, do no harm." We must make sure that we ourselves were safe and sound enough to help. We must also make sure that we were free to help. If we had kids in tow, we'd better go home or find some "shelter in place" immediately. We should not assume that we were the only good Samaritans there.

2.  If we're OK and free, we'd better take charge should no one else step up to the plate. We must be assertive enough to start barking orders to our fellow good Samaritans: "You, go call 911." "You, you and you and you, go with me!" "Folks over there, go get me a ton of gauze pads, blankets, and stuff like that. Sanitizers too. Go!" "Hey, big fellows over there! Go watch the intersections and keep those rubberneckers out of the emergency vehicles' way." "We can't afford to lose a second here. Let's roll!"

3.  No matter how bad a victim might look, we'd better NOT assume the worst, yet. Remember, an apparently unconscious victim might still be able to hear us. So, to each victim, we had to let him or her know in no uncertain terms that help was on the way. 

4.  Simultaneously, we had to stabilize the victims whose unwarrantable mobility would likely make matters worse.

5.  Also simultaneously, we had to stop the victims' bleeding by applying pressure on their open wounds, ideally with gauze pads -- otherwise, with hankies or any soft garments. Whatever works.

6. Until and unless the medics had arrived, we needed to keep comforting the victims, verbally and audibly.

Oscar Wilde once said, "No good deed goes unpunished." Here in America, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have their Good Samaritan laws for our legal protection. No good deed goes punished.

By the way, first aid training should be mandatory for high school students.

Author: Lingyang Jiang

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