First aid in road accidents: to take a motorcyclist's helmet off or not? Info for the citizen
A motorcyclist is on the ground, a traffic accident has resulted in his injuries. The question of what to do is triggered in the ordinary citizen
These are serious questions, about which careful thought is needed.
One of these invariably concerns the helmet.
For example, whether or not to take it off.
It must be said immediately and clearly: improvising as a rescuer is always a mistake with often fatal consequences for the accident victim.
In the rescue chain in many countries, calling the emergency number is the first or among the first actions.
Removing the helmet from an injured motorcyclist: the steps to take to remove the helmet from an unconscious person
One doubt of those who first come to the aid of a stricken motorcyclist is, as we said, whether to remove the helmet after an accident.
The cases are very different, since if the motorcyclist is unconscious, even more attention must be paid to how to remove a motorbike helmet from an injured person.
The German Automobile Club has published a guide that aims to shed light on the ‘if’ and ‘how’ of removing a motorcyclist’s helmet and the steps to follow.
REMOVING A MOTORCYCLIST’S HELMET AFTER AN ACCIDENT: PRELIMINARY TIPS
Even more important than calling for help, stresses the ADAC, is to be visible at all times (wearing a reflective jacket and carrying a torch or mobile phone with the flash on) and not to endanger one’s own safety.
Any further accident resulting from an underestimation of this rule would exponentially complicate the intervention of rescuers.
To put it bluntly: the rescuers themselves have in the back (often) of the ambulance a set of helmets to be worn when intervening in scenarios such as a road accident, for the same reasons as stated above.
But what should one do when faced with an injured and unconscious motorcyclist wearing a helmet? Is it right to remove the helmet from an injured person? And what is to be done if a fellow rider also slips, loses consciousness and may not be breathing?
A fundamental principle that the ADAC makes clear is that: ‘a motorcyclist who is still wearing a helmet after the accident is not well’, since everyone tends to take their helmet off themselves after an accident.
So the first thing to do is to see if he responds to stimuli, but before removing the helmet proceed as follows:
– Lift the visor, talk to the injured person and gently shake both shoulders;
– If he does not respond, shout loudly for help and warn other people.
These actions are of great importance and the results should certainly be reported to the Emergency Number operator, who will adapt the intervention he is coordinating on the basis of the responses.
REMOVING THE HELMET AFTER AN ACCIDENT: CREATING SPACE AROUND THE FACE
When removing the helmet from an injured, unconscious motorcyclist, the ADAC advises to create as much space around the face as possible.
Remove any scarves and neck warmers beforehand before locating all the straps and coloured buttons (red or yellow) that allow the helmet to be unhooked and remove the inner padding, and proceed in this way:
– If the helmet is modular, lift the chin guard and then unhook the strap. If it is a full-face helmet, unhook the chin strap;
– Newer full-face helmets also allow the cheek pads to be removed to facilitate rescue operations;
– Position the helmet as straight as possible, i.e. at a 90 degree angle to the ground, so that the opening is as wide as possible and the injured person’s head is upright.
REMOVING A MOTORCYCLIST’S HELMET AFTER AN ACCIDENT: BETTER TO DO IT IN TWO
The safest way to remove a helmet from an injured motorcyclist is by two people.
The one who is in charge of removing the helmet kneels immediately behind the injured person, while the other person who will support the neck/head positions himself front/side, as shown in the picture below. The steps to follow are:
– If the injured person is wearing glasses, remove them;
– Spread the helmet as wide as possible with both hands on the lower sides and slowly start to remove the helmet from the injured motorcyclist.
If, on the other hand, you are alone rescuing a motorcyclist and remove the helmet without any help, you will not be able to widen the helmet, so you need as much space around the head as possible and proceed like this:
– Kneeling immediately behind the injured person’s head, carefully pull the helmet towards you, supporting the back of the victim’s head with one hand;
– after pulling the helmet off completely, lay the injured person’s head slowly down.
THE WORLDWIDE RESCUERS’ RADIOEMS? IT’S RADIOEMS: VISIT ITS BOOTH AT EMERGENCY EXPO
Removing a motorcyclist’s helmet after a road accident? The German ADAC video
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