Every day I ignore the commands of my neighbor's dog is another day that a great number of people continue to draw breath. You're welcome!
_{Not you, the other one. He knows what he did. You and I are still cool}

overpuce:

TrilbyWill:
-SNIP-

You sir have just proven a theory of mine. Every good post should start with binary.

Edit: BTW... I just saved a person's life right now. But I'll save this one for a future post.

How about now?

I have saved a few bugs and spiders but no humans.

If you count giving blood, then yes.

Pah you did your job, you don't congratulate your bin men for hauling away the bodies without asking questions do you?

I'm just bitter and tired due to imminent deadlines.

You've stolen one death from the Red God, we have to give it back..

One of my siblings was foolish enough to dive into a pool end that was a foot deeper than their height and had no idea how to swim. Luckily, I caught them diving in and went over to them. At first, I taught that they were trying to stay afloat by jumping on their toes, but I soon realized that they were really struggling. So I pulled them out quickly, and although they were coughing some water, they were ok.

Had I not been there, they would've been in serious trouble. This sibling was always being rescued by me and to this day, they are not grateful enough to even show me the slightest bit of respect.

Nobody put in the Dara O'Briain video yet? Usually people are faster at that sort of thing.

Anyways, yes. I smashed a kids skateboard on my knee. Hurt like hell, but I feel he will survive.

thaluikhain:

overpuce:
Inside was this lady, probably late 20s early 30s. She was crying and begging me to help her. She was being held upside down and in place by her seat belt. I remember being a little scared because action movies had filled my head full of explosions occurring after car wrecks. So I slipped inside the car and undid the seat belt, and tried to dragged the woman out of the car.

This marine had also stopped behind the SUV. He helped me by carrying her, while I held her neck, back to his car where he had a med kit. A nurse arrived on scene as well, she probably worked at the nearby hospital. I left as soon as I saw the nurse and an ambulance arriving on-scene. Since I wasn't a doctor and didn't have any experience with medicine other than a CPR class I had taken, I wouldn't have been of any use.

Um...a lot of people drag people out of crashed cars, expecting a dramatic Hollywood explosion, but actually it's a very bad thing to do. Moving an injured person is best left to professionals unless there is actual danger in the area.

Cars don't just blow up for no good reason, that Hollywood bullshit further hurts crash victims.

So is it cool if I pass by a severe accident, stop to call an ambulance and then just lean on the back of my car and play Tetris while the poor victim asks for assistance?
"Sorry, bro/bra. This isn't the movies. I'm not certified to move you from your vehicle."

CrimsonBlaze:
One of my siblings was foolish enough to dive into a pool end that was a foot deeper than their height and had no idea how to swim. Luckily, I caught them diving in and went over to them. At first, I taught that they were trying to stay afloat by jumping on their toes, but I soon realized that they were really struggling. So I pulled them out quickly, and although they were coughing some water, they were ok.

Had I not been there, they would've been in serious trouble. This sibling was always being rescued by me and to this day, they are not grateful enough to even show me the slightest bit of respect.

Push'em back in.

gj, i was half expecting the post to be about donating blood

TheYellowCellPhone:
Yeah, according to my mom. Saved a kid in Africa's life by eating all the broccoli on my plate.

Okay wait, that counts? Oh shit. I've saved a whole tribe by that account!

Well I've been a fire fighter for over eight years. I have applied pressure to wounds, splinted broken bones, performed CPR on multiple people (most were very old and died due to either having DNR's or other serious health problems) but I didn't save any of them because the paramedics who transported them and the doctors who worked on them actually saved them they would still have died even with my interventions if they never got to the doctors. But if I never applied the pressure or did the cpr they would have died before getting to the hospital.

The one call I really think I did help save a life on though was a call that wasn't even in our district. We got dispatched by accident to a 3 year old girl who had walked under a fence and kicked in the chest by a horse. Our stations are manned 24/7 and we arrived in about 5 minutes. If we cancelled like we were suppose to the correct department (volunteer) would have taken about 15 minutes to get there since they have to leave their other jobs and go to the station to get trucks then to the scene. Well we got on scene and she wasn't breathing and had no pulse. My partner and I started CPR he gave breaths and I did compressions as her mother was crying and saying she just let her out of her sight for a few seconds to take in some groceries. After about two sets of compressions the girl took a gasp of air and started crying. I never thought a child's cry would ever be one of the best sounds I would ever hear but those cries were music to my ears. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later and they loaded her up and rushed her with a police escort all the way to the hospital. That call was about five years ago and I still remember everything like it was yesterday, especially the image of working on the girl while her mom blamed herself and cried in the background, and I imagine I will remember it for a lot longer.

Oddly enough I have never pulled anyone out of a fire.

The closest I've got to saving a life is giving blood that will have to do for now.

Donating blood is pretty much all I have done to save others. No way to know if that blood actually helped anyone out but I donate once a year or so.

Cowabungaa:
Sort-of. I helped stop someone from committing suicide. It was no biggy, I suppose.

Same here, it kinda doesn't feel like you saved a life but you did really.

Everytime someone tells me they would like to visit my country, I tell them to stay away until Chavez dies of cancer or something.

So yeah, I'm saving lives, one potential tourist at the time.

I tried once. One of the more stupid things I have ever done in my life. Was fishing off a rowboat on a public lake. Storm (tornado) sirens went off so I headed for the dock (not far away) but started to hear screaming. Looking to the west I see 2 things... 1st, a tornado on the ground. A good way off, and just a rope not a large one but still. And 2, a paddle boat with 3 kids on it screaming that they were stuck and could not move. A friend met me at the dock, jumped in his own rowboat and we took off toward the paddleboat. With the storm and tornado looming larger and larger every second we rowed toward the kids. Then we lost sight of the tornado as the rain and hail opened up. We made it to the kids and transferred them to our boats, but decided rather than go to the dock (a good way away) it would be quicker to go to the west side and move from shore on foot. So rowing towards where we last saw the tornado we set off again. Reached shore and hit some nature trails (glad we knew the area well) and found the nearest storm shelter. The kids' family was in the shelter (brothers and sisters I think) treated me and my friend like heroes...

But we didn't save anyone. The tornado passed a mile or so away from us. (must have changed direction after we lost it in the rain clutter) If it had hit us, we would all have died. I have since learned the fact we saw it at all was an indicator it most likely wasn't headed directly towards us. People have told me since that it was a "noble effort" and "incredibly brave." But I know that I risked my life and the life of a friend on a pretty futile endeavor. Still... A: no one was hurt and B: it wasn't so stupid, there was no way I could have known how useless an attempt it was until afterwards.

I guess possibly twice? The first time in a round-a-bout way maybe, definitely a drastic increase in quality of life. I was dating someone who was a meth and weed user, pretty bad about it. Anyway, she seemed to handle it most the time, and she knew I fucking hated it as we'd fought about it before. Well, one night she calls me and tells me she's too fucked up to drive, she's about 10 minutes from her house but she's too scared to drive. I drive my happy ass an hour down to her, she gets in my car, and I stay the night at her place, lots of crying and comforting, and drive her to her truck the next morning after we'd been up all night, driving around or just parked somewhere talking. Well, later on we break up for other reasons, I move on(and actually meet my wife about two weeks after the break up), she goes back to an ex.

Fast forward about a year later. She contacts me and tells me that after we broke up, she was cheated on by her ex, again, several times, and then had a nasty string of cheaters after that. This led to her getting clean, getting a good job, and swearing off men for awhile all because, first, of the absolute look of horror and pain I showed when she first got into my car that night that had haunted her ever since, and she knew she didn't have to settle for shitheads anymore after being with someone as amazing as me and she needed to clean herself up if she wanted to find another person like me(her words, not mine). I still get a message from her every 6 months to a year or so(usually on a sobriety anniversary) letting me know how she's doing and thanking me again for being amazing. So I guess you could say I saved someone and turned their life around just from being so damn awesome. :p

Second time, possibly. I slept in when I should have gotten up for PT. It's a good thing I did. About 5 minutes after I would have normally left, someone started to break into my apartment. I grabbed my gun, stood in the hallway(gun just out of view), and as the door flung open he was met with a very loud "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" I don't think he expected anyone and was startled. He started to say something, but then bolted instead. My wife was very glad I didn't wake up early that day.

I saved my grama's life twice. Woman survives 4 heart attacks & what kills her in the end A f**king kidney stone.

Freechoice:

thaluikhain:

overpuce:
Inside was this lady, probably late 20s early 30s. She was crying and begging me to help her. She was being held upside down and in place by her seat belt. I remember being a little scared because action movies had filled my head full of explosions occurring after car wrecks. So I slipped inside the car and undid the seat belt, and tried to dragged the woman out of the car.

This marine had also stopped behind the SUV. He helped me by carrying her, while I held her neck, back to his car where he had a med kit. A nurse arrived on scene as well, she probably worked at the nearby hospital. I left as soon as I saw the nurse and an ambulance arriving on-scene. Since I wasn't a doctor and didn't have any experience with medicine other than a CPR class I had taken, I wouldn't have been of any use.

Um...a lot of people drag people out of crashed cars, expecting a dramatic Hollywood explosion, but actually it's a very bad thing to do. Moving an injured person is best left to professionals unless there is actual danger in the area.

Cars don't just blow up for no good reason, that Hollywood bullshit further hurts crash victims.

So is it cool if I pass by a severe accident, stop to call an ambulance and then just lean on the back of my car and play Tetris while the poor victim asks for assistance?
"Sorry, bro/bra. This isn't the movies. I'm not certified to move you from your vehicle."

If you believe that "assist" equates to "drag the victim around for no reason", yes, you probably should avoid assisting.

Two big thumbs up to you and your choice of profession then, matey!

OT: Eh, not really big on the 'saving lives' department I'm afraid. Hell, the one time I could have helped save a life, i.e my friend choking on a chicken sandwich, I just pointed and laughed while someone else did the saving bit.

I once comforted someone who'd been sexually assaulted and was self-harming because of it. She doesn't do it any more. I don't think she was suicidal but talking things through definitely helped.

Freechoice:

thaluikhain:

overpuce:
Inside was this lady, probably late 20s early 30s. She was crying and begging me to help her. She was being held upside down and in place by her seat belt. I remember being a little scared because action movies had filled my head full of explosions occurring after car wrecks. So I slipped inside the car and undid the seat belt, and tried to dragged the woman out of the car.

This marine had also stopped behind the SUV. He helped me by carrying her, while I held her neck, back to his car where he had a med kit. A nurse arrived on scene as well, she probably worked at the nearby hospital. I left as soon as I saw the nurse and an ambulance arriving on-scene. Since I wasn't a doctor and didn't have any experience with medicine other than a CPR class I had taken, I wouldn't have been of any use.

Um...a lot of people drag people out of crashed cars, expecting a dramatic Hollywood explosion, but actually it's a very bad thing to do. Moving an injured person is best left to professionals unless there is actual danger in the area.

Cars don't just blow up for no good reason, that Hollywood bullshit further hurts crash victims.

So is it cool if I pass by a severe accident, stop to call an ambulance and then just lean on the back of my car and play Tetris while the poor victim asks for assistance?
"Sorry, bro/bra. This isn't the movies. I'm not certified to move you from your vehicle."

I wouldn't exactly advice you to play tetris and ignore anything else like possible wounds or psychological assistance but why would you insist on getting them out of the car if there's no immediate danger to their lives staying in there? If the person is unconscious by all means go ahead and drag them out every way you want, life before limb, but I'm curious what your reasoning in this case would be.

Boggelz:
I work as a lifeguard, and today there was a lot of rowdy kids. At our pool we have a swinging rope into the deep end. When I was watching I noticed a girl struggling to get her head up, after a few seconds i jumped in and pulled her out. She's fine now, but it was my first experience with actually saving someone. When I got the job it seemed all very distant to me. I know I was just doing my job but it felt really good to be able to say I saved someone.

So Escapist, do you have any stories of saving a life(lives)?

You didn't necessarily save her life, somebody may have helped if you didn't, still you did a great thing. There are two different times when I may have saved lives. The first time was when I was sitting passenger, my friend was driving and two more of my friends were sitting in the back. My friend wasn't paying attention and was a new driver, he had never come across a ramp that goes into a full circle before. We came across one, he turned onto it and didn't continue his turn, I instinctively reached over and cranked the wheel as hard as I could and got us back on course. If I hadn't we probably would have flown off the ramp into oncoming traffic, so I may have saved all four of us. Another time I spent the entire night with someone who was contemplating suicide and was apparently sure of doing it, I just walked around the town explaining things to them and helping them calm down, by morning it was obvious they were okay and even told me so, so I walked home.

I've talked a few people out of committing suicide, which is almost hypocritical as I've been suicidally leaning for awhile now, not like a couple days awhile, more of since I was 13-14, which is over a decade now, but at that time I kept swearing it off as bullshit to do with the "antidepressants" they had me on, which only seemed to make me tired, yet unable to sleep, and make it near on impossible to "get it up" which in itself is like living in hell when you've got no friends, your family is a warzone, and the ONLY piece of pleasure in your life is masturbation, and those pills took it away... hell they tried like 5 different kinds of medication hell even mixed em and none of them did anything asside from depressing me more, or that one combination which made me feel like I was hulking out constantly, and couldn't feel anything but hate and rage.

I still wonder if I really saved them, or if I merely convinced them to continue suffering...

Capcha: "whoops a daisy" ... goddamn you capcha, stop reading my mind!

A life long friend of mine killed himself, hanged, on new years day 2010. He was 27 and a father, had a turbulent life, but was loved, liked and enjoyed on and off success at his pursuits. He left no note, but...

He had given me a call the night before he took his life. I didn't take the call - was half asleep; looked at the call display and figured I'd ring him back when I was more cogent. He didn't leave any voice mail. He'd never given any typical warning signs of that sort of thing. I was startled to find out that I was the last person he tried to reach before he ended it.

It's left me a legacy of speculation, however moot:

Would he tell me what he was planning or elude to it such that I would notice? Would I have been able to help him, or was he set on his course and merely stopping to say goodbye? Ultimately, could I have saved my childhood friend's life by taking that call, or would it have been too little too late?

We'd always been good friends, but there were people he was closer with and he never asked me for advice - he was always the one giving it out, playing the older guide. Why was his last earthy deed to call me?

Topics like this always make me return to this reflection and wonder...

Props to you man. Just a job or not, saving lives is always good.

I haven't saved anyone, but I've had my life saved once.

I was in a pool, wandered into the deep end, couldn't swim, my uncle jumped in and saved me. Didn't really cause me much harm though, after that I learned how to swim so it wouldn't happen again and to help someone else should the need arise.

SageRuffin:
I'm in the military, about to go into a career field that ensures many lives remain safe.

Are you? ;)

Sadly I'm a coward so I couldn't possibly do that. But much respect to you for doing what I could never do!

aba1:
I have been told by a friend that I saved him from suicide but he tends to be a little dramatic so I don't really take it to seriously.

In my case, that's actually true, not just over dramatic. I saved my friend's life, really. She was depressed, after her father died, and I basically gave her something to help take her mind off that, and it worked. It was actually introducing her to Doctor Who. Seriously. That show is fucking amazing. It has so much hope in it. She later told me that I basically saved her life, and I understood what I had done was really important.

Nice job. Would giving blood count as saving lives? If so, I do that every few months.

Boggelz:
I work as a lifeguard, and today there was a lot of rowdy kids. At our pool we have a swinging rope into the deep end. When I was watching I noticed a girl struggling to get her head up, after a few seconds i jumped in and pulled her out. She's fine now, but it was my first experience with actually saving someone. When I got the job it seemed all very distant to me. I know I was just doing my job but it felt really good to be able to say I saved someone.

So Escapist, do you have any stories of saving a life(lives)?

Sort of the same thing...Only a little more "Manly", no offense.

Awhile back we were catching little fish when the one kid fell in the water. Scrawny little guy. As he began to sink I just walked over calmly grabbed him by his collar and pulled him out one handed. Like I said, scrawny. Then we just went about our day trying to catch fish with our bare hands lol.

St.Augustine6:
If what the Red Cross says about a blood donation saving three lives has any kind of merit. Than in my life, I have saved...*counting*...27 lives. Of course, some of those donations were of the "pure red blood cell donation which is better for handling certain types of cancer" type. But, of course, since almost anybody can do this, it isn't exactly the most noble deed on the planet.

Unfortunately, not everyone can. Where I live there is a minimum weight that I have never reached (I'm a very small person) so I've never had a chance to donate. Also, the antiquated (bullshit) rule against gay men donating blood- not if they've had sex with another man, ever, is still in effect.

I am going to register as an organ donor. I'm a little squicked out at the idea of loosing my insides, but the idea that my death could lead to life or improved quality of life for someone is a much stronger motivation.

Capcha: zombie prom

I once came home from school to find my neighbor in tears at my front door, needing to use the phone to call an ambulance because her sister had attempted suicide. I was like 14 at the time so I was scared as hell about what was happening, but I mustered up all my courage and called 911 while she looked after her sister and her sister's children. I never did see them again, but from what I heard everything turned out okay. :)

Then there was the time I dragged a buddy to the ER because he drank a whole bottle of vodka and popped some anti-depressants... The doctors said he would have died without medical attention, so I felt good about helping. Even if all I did was carry the guy to the car and then into the hospital.

Are you kidding? I saved HUNDREDS of lives today!

- it might be because I resisted the urge to kill them all today, but still, tomato, potato..