On Saturday night, a group of friends car-pooled to a local community college to watch a friend perform in a play. We began the evening with an elderly lady falling right in front of us. It was pretty clear that she had broken a hip. It’s so hard to watch someone helpless and in pain but soon enough the paramedics arrived and whisked her off to the hospital. We watched the play and headed for home. We had nearly arrived when my DH noticed a motorcycle lying on its side on the edge of the road. We pulled u-turn and went back to investigate. Another car coming from the opposite direction did the same. Now this stretch of road is pretty deserted at this time of the night and the odds of two cars meeting and illuminating a particular piece of road are pretty slim. We jumped out of the van to investigate. It was a motorcycle but there was no operator. I grabbed a flashlight ane we started a search. In a few minutes we found the boy, seriously injured, way over the guard rail in the deep grass. I won’t describe his injuries here. Let me just say they were clearly life-threatening. My first-aid kit is meant for minor injuries, not the kind of thing we were looking at. The boy needed a trauma surgeon, not some bandages and aspirin. We called 911 and waited for the ambulance crew to arrive. They did and the boy was air-lifted to the nearest trauma center.
The whole thing left me shaken. We could do so little for him. We held his hand and talked to him and put a towel over the worst injury, to protect ourselves as much as to stop the bleeding. This has got me to pondering our role in the bigger picture.
I write about prepping and I do believe that we all have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and to prepare for a world of resource depletion and economic instability. But I think we also have a responsibility to the wider village. I think we all need a place to put some energy, whether it be your library, your hospital, your school or your fire and police departments. In rural locations, a lot of these things are volunteer organizations and they need all the bodies they can muster. As people spend more time away from home or “being entertained” in front of tvs and computers, it’s getting harder all the time to find people willing to commit. I am urging every reader to find a place to be useful. Now I realize that some people really don’t have the time or the health or the ability to do much but if possible, do something.
On a prepping note, I plan to go to the LDS cannery in Worcester next Saturday. I’m making up a list now. The wish list is heavy with grains and flours as I’m low on those. I also want to stock up on baking supplies, especially sugar and baking soda. Bruce got a nail gun and air compressor for Father’s Day so work can begin on the summer kitchen. I got several bales of mulch hay yesterday and I need to spend some time getting it spread in the squash patch and between the potatoes. We have a spell of good weather predicted and I need to literally make hay.
June 20, 2011 at 6:11 am
Great post and you’re right. We have a responsibility to the community to offer our services without compromising our own families’ safety and well being. Our town has several nursing homes and there would be the greatest need for volunteers.
You did a wonderful thing in assisting that young man. These days no one wants to get involved.
June 20, 2011 at 6:55 am
My husband is a volunteer fire fighter. I am a member of support services for the fd. Days like the one you described seem to happen to us all the time. I chalk it up to the fact that God presents us with those situations because He knows we can handle them. An elderly woman collapsed at my son’s concert for instance, her elderly companions could not help her up enough to get help but my husband was able to sweep her out of there, keeping both her physical well being and personal dignity in tact. We’ve gone on countless missing children searches. Even our young sons have spent days in the fire house making coffee & food for fire fighters out all night dealing with flooding and then for the public as we opened shelters for those forced from their homes.
My point though is there us something everyone can do. Even in deteriorating health or with very little time or skills. taking a half hour to make fund raising phone calls for these types of organizations can be invaluable. Bringing a box of sandwiches and some water to fire fighters stuck at a scene for hours waiting for a gas or electrical company to show up is amazing. Taking flyers for shatever event to your regular job & hanging them up is a huge help. Offering a ride to a medical appt to someone who can’t drive is heroic to them. There is something everyone can do. And we should all find it & do it. Oh, here’s one last idea I just realized myself last night — one of the non profit groups we’re involved with has a wish list of in kind donations listed on their web site. Many of the items on it are simple, basic office supplies. In a few weeks here when Staples starts having their 1 cent back to school sales … I’ll be spending some extra pennies to have supplies to donate.
June 20, 2011 at 6:57 am
There is a bulk food Mennonite store in Bennington, think it’s called The Wagon Wheel or something. WE go there quite a big. They were able to order us some nice wheat. They also have baking supplies.
June 20, 2011 at 6:58 am
I don’t know Emily. I think I hear FIELD TRIP!
June 20, 2011 at 9:10 am
I’m heading up there this week. You can phone in orders and pick up when convenient. I’ll grab a card from them and get the number to you.
June 20, 2011 at 11:03 am
Herbalpagan and Kathy – could you provide more information on both the LDS cannery and the Mennonite store? I’m very interested in both – not sure if they’d have on-line info or not (esp the Mennonite store) but all resources would be gratefully received
June 20, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Agree with Michelle! I’d like to know more about both places as well. Kathy, what a rough weekend! Glad you were there in both instances to help out, as I’m sure both victims are as well. Guess it *still* takes a village once the kids are raised.
June 21, 2011 at 1:54 am
You may not have had the equipment to help the motorcyclist, but you stopped to look, which not many people would now as others have said, and you had a torch to search for him with.
I hope he survives, and if he does it will be down to you. If he doesn’t it won’t be your fault.
Erin makes an interesting point about being presented with situations you can cope with. I tease my Dad and say I never want to travel with him, because he’s always on the flight where they page for a doctor on board, or at the petrol station where a lorry has struck a motorcyclist, or driving along when a head-on collision happens in front of him. But he’s a first aid instructor (he instructs the emergency services) so I guess if it’s going to happen, he’s a good person to have it happen in front of!
I’ve just seen a questionnaire sent out by my neighbouring parish asking what skills you could volunteer in an emergency, how many people and/or pets you could take in and what equipment you could loan (everything from tractors and trailers to sand bags and chain saws), so they can set up a database. I’m going to show it to our parish council and suggest they send out something similar with a bit about personal preparedness added on- a 3 day supply of food and water would be a start.
June 21, 2011 at 6:16 am
LDS or Mornon’s encourage their members to be prepared. They provide the means to do this by having regional “canneries” and deliveries of bulks basic foods. The members can use this cannery and equipment, but some goes into a storehouse for charitable purposes for the congregation. They have many web sites to help people. They also open these canneries to the public on certain days. You can go in (call ahead) and purchase packing supplies, use the cannery (fill #10 cans) or buy in bulk. For us, the issue is that the cannery is over 3 hours away.
The Mennonite store is a nice bulk foods store, where they sell ingredients for baking, canning and the pantry; frequently at very reasonable prices. They have a bakery there as well. I believe they buy from a national bulk place. I found them by doing a “bulk food sales” search. I believe I paid about $23 for 50# of wheat there and at the cannery I paid about $22. In the mid west and western states, many Walmarts sell food storage items and bulk grains, but here in New England, it’s hard to find. Blue Chop Group (.com)can also help you find retailers and occasionally they will sell direct, shipping is always an issue, so watch for “free shipping” sales. One benefit of going to the cannery is that for about 25 cents, you can seal what you buy in #10 cans and store in boxes. The draw back is that selection is limited. At the Mennonite store, you can asl choose organic options for many things. Hope that helps!
June 22, 2011 at 9:27 pm
I googled the cannery and found this link: http://community.stretcher.com/forums/t/24227.aspx
Thanks for the info Kathy, I have been interested in bulk buying and this is not too far from me.
June 22, 2011 at 10:16 pm
We’ve been prohibited from visiting the LDS cannery in Greensboro unless an LDS member accompanies us. Is that not the case in all states?
June 23, 2011 at 4:57 am
It depends on the cannery and how busy they are. Ours does accept non-LDS users although my DIL and son are LDS and would sponsor me in any case.