Floriana accident: Rescuer complains about inaction by onlookers

Reference Mr. Chris Atkinson’s assertions to your correspondent’s online report regarding the incident being discussed in this forum, the attention of its readers is drawn to the following factual sequence of events and actions taken by three (3) B Coy personnel from 1 Regiment AFM during the mentioned accident:

Upon sighting the accident, one of the soldiers, a Junior Non-Commissioned Officer (JNCO), took the initiative to stop their Service vehicle so as to offer help as required. He immediately instructed another accompanying JNCO to take control of the ongoing traffic and assigned the third last soldier to assist him the best he could.

On seeing that there was already an individual administering First Aid, presumably Mr. Atkinson himself, the JNCO in-charge offered his assistance and yet left the lead in the apparently confident hands of this civilian first-aider on the scene. Together with this said first aider, the AFM JNCO took out the front male passenger and continued to help as he best as he could.

Although the three AFM soldiers (who may not, under the circumstances, have felt as confident as Mr. Atkinson) did not administer First Aid on the casulties, it is deemed by their chain-of-command’s leadership that they provided considerable help, and so deserve a patt on the back plus a “well done” to say the least.

The Unit’s Adjutant at 1 Regiment has already praised our Service personnel for their efforts, whilst encouraging more of such selfless actions to third parties in distress. On the other hand, the Service wishes to register its displeasure at the erroneous picture portrayed of our Servicemen by Mr. Atkinson’s assertions.

It must be reminded for the benefit of your readers that the tenets of first aid make it clear that the first aider - it appears that Mr Atkinson had unilaterally decided to assume this role - is to take charge, and it is of primary importance that the area is made safe whilst bystanders are used by whoever is in charge. If Mr Atkinson is as good as he asserts that he is, then he should have made better use of the AFM personnel.

On behalf of the Maltese, I would like to thank Mr Atkinson, for potentially saving 2 lives.

I agree with David Agius's comment, where he states that First Aid should be an elementary subject.... In addition, i suggest that all drivers should have first aid certificates.

Ms Josephine Azzopardi,

First of all, im qualified first aid instructor. I was astonished to hear from you regards Mr Agius comments. He is not trying to sell a product, he is just saying where in 2008, with almost everyone has excess to the internet, where one can find some useful information re First Aid.

Secondly, if you have taken a basic first aid course, im very sorry that you or didnt understand anything or else you forgot everything. So in this case, please take another course at least once every 3 years.

In a basic first aid course, one's learn how to open the airway and how to put a person in recovery position to protect the airway!!! Things that Mr Atkinson has done on the injured casualties. He didnt have the tools to take the trapped casualty out but at least he had given basic first aid until helps arrives!!

Finally, with basic first aid course, one can give a very good helping hand to the CPD personnel, with the latter must be congratulated with their work on our roads when these type of accidents occur. CPD, thanks and well done

......i feel very bad what happened in the Floriana accident, wish i was there to help too.

It really depends on the type of person, at the scene.
The biggest minority would take a bullet for stranger, some people would try their best to help out , some without getting too involved, but the majority are so messed up on commercialism and selfishness that they just stand there and enjoy the show as if they're watching tv.

Yet most Maltese love to call themselves Roman Catholic, the Reality is that they've become worse than the Rabbis who ignored the injured man.

I had a car accident and totalled my car to the extent that the doors were jammed. I hadn't swallowed my tongue or fainted but i was bleeding badly and needed stitches, I was under shock and i bumped my head badly. Within seconds passers-by helped me out of the car and brought wet towels, water and even offered their mobile to phone relatives, and of course called an ambulance which arrived in seconds.

No doubt that the Maltese are catching up with the rest of the Europeans, keeping to themselves and being less helpful. Globalisation anybody?? It was even published that scientific studies proved this is the result of multi-cultural societies.

You can't expect to imitate the rest of the Europe and have different results.

Mr Pisani,

So you were doing your job were you. You are a pro aren't you. Personally I think it's disgraceful that injured people have their photos taken without their consent. Ah yes, I'm sure your answer will be that "The public has a right to know" - pathetic.

I totally agree with Mr. John Pisani. Trying to move injured people without the proper knowledge will do more harm than good. Those onlookers were probably the ones who called for thye emergency services and rightly so too. Thank you Mr. Atkinson for your help but please don't exagerate on our people's incompetence.

Ok, fantastic, a lot of comments!

A simple first aid course takes 2 days to do and is valid for 3 years. how many are willing to take it? Remember, a lot of accidents happen at home to our loved ones. Furthermore, in accidents where the victim is not breathing, the first 4 minutes are essential in that if CPR is not administered, the victim may suffer brain damage and possibly death.

So, let's be proactive - Enrol in a first aid course today!

Sometimes if your not qualified to do something even to help somebody could result in incompetence and face court charges so I think most of the people has that idea in their mind that is 'ahsel idejk bhal pilatu' if you don't want to get in trouble or else 'min fuq il-grazzi' can send you 'ghal-frisk'

Mr. Atkins should be excused for not being fully aware how things blow a bit out of proportion in Malta. In fact these forums are becoming quite entertaining.

Take a look a the pieces re the B'Kara shooting. Pity Scotland Yard don't know about them for a few tips :)

I only suggested a fine .. an arrest is a little bit too heavy handed ... I mean really.

And Mrs Hansen, when someone tells me to hold the air passage open ... is that a hint that the guy knows what he's doing or should I ask for qualifications signed and verified beforehand? Pardon my sarcasm, I'm in the mood for it.

Let's say for argument's sake the guy is a phoney, what the heck? Common sense should tell me enough if a person is really breathing or not and that what is being recommended could do good until serious help is at hand. Being complacent is not an excuse.

As for people standing by and not wanting to get involved. Is there honestly one Maltese person who can say this is not becoming commonplace?

My wife witnessed a tourist being beaten up because he stayed in the water with a jet ski too long. No one stopped it.

We are a nation of peope who just love to pat ourselves on the back ... truly. Not very long ago I stopped because of a commotion in the street. Two men were attacking a tourist with stones. Lots of people were just standing around doing nothing. The men including the tourist were twice my size. The problem was that the Maltese did not understand English and the tourist obviously knew no Maltese. Apparantly the two men were as is the norm here riding their stupid 'serkin' on a public and busy road when the tourist honked his horn (silly man does not know horses don't like honking) scaring the horse which damaged the rental. So all I did was translate and calmed the situation a bit. Called the police emergency number who very helpfully at first suggested I go to a police station. Cut a long story short the cops did arrive quite quickly and the cowards ran away. Afterwards the cops actually called to thank me for having helped out. And that ladies and gentleman co-nationals was not to pump any sunshine but an indication on how very helpful the public in general really is.

Mela ma nindahalx ... biex nispicca xhud is the popular adage.

I recall reading in this newspaper some years ago about a young man dining with his friends who died choking on a piece of meat. Now I did say already that I do not have formal first aid but I have kids and I actually practiced (my wife did the course) helping remove an obstructing object in case this happened with mine.

A young life was lost in front of a restaurant full of people. Nobody, staff included obviously helped or could help. All we could do was later say ... miskin ara x'garalu. Don't get me started :)

This is shocking! The famous 'helpful' Maltese society not giving a hand, a possible person with first aid knowledge approached to help only when called upon and the lack of rescue personnel at the scene!!!! I could not believe what I was reading! Have the Maltese people become so heartless like the majority of people in Europe? I have witness numerous occasions abroad where individuals need some kind of help and the public just ignores what is going on.....however, never have I witnessed such a thing in Malta!

I would also like to comment on the rescue teams involved. If it is true that only two persons from the civil protection arrived at the scene, then there is a big problem in Malta. Departments like the civil protection are there to support the public from various points of view let alone accident response and investigation. If they were called out for a traffic accident, they should have been prepared for all sorts of problems. Sending just two people at the scene is highly unprofessional! Had it not been for the foreign fireman, the people who could not breathe properly could have suffocated and died.

I have no doubt that the civil protection together with other departments such as the police, do their utmost in order to provide an efficient response to the public whatever the case might be. However, I do think that standardisation is lacking in many procedures that are carried out by these departments. I have been studying in the UK for the past 8 months and in such a short period of time I have learnt to appreciate the professional manner adopted by rescuers and police alike in their day to day duties. This gives the public a basis onto which such authorities can be trusted. If standardisation of procedures is not taken care of by the Maltese authorities, when incidents like these happen the general public would unfortunately be bound to question the integrity and professional manner with which certain difficult and complex situations are handled.

Dear Mr.Atkison,

for sure we all appreciate your help, although some of your statments are far from realityI can say this as I too was present there (we put this at an end).

Regarding Mr.Pisani, we all know what a respectful journalist he is. This is not his first job for sure, and from his articles, the maltese society started to learn from pulling out casualties from entrapped cars. We wouldn't like to see once again lay persons pulling out casualties from cars without any knowledge

And for sure the photos he took wouldn't been published on Youtube!!!! Maybe you don't know our local scene and situations & that's not your fault.

thanks

First of all, thanks to Chris for getting involved and attending to the accident victims. Seems like we have 2 versions of what happened here. Some read only Chris Atkinson's version and took it as fact and came out with these wild comments, one even proclaiming "i feel ashamed being a Maltese really ashamed ". Really?! Talk about over-reacting!!
Based on the other eye-witness account of what happened, could it be that maybe Chris embellished his version a little bit? In either case, lucky for the accident victims that a trained professional like Chris was on the scene right away. The first few minutes are very critical. I, for one, wouldn't want someone who's not trained properly trying to yank me out of a crashed vehicle, possibly inflicting more injuries or causing permanent damage. But let me conclude by saying thanks again to Chris for his actions.

Mr. Atkinson thank you for helping. You are the Good Samaritan. God shall see to your reward, whether u r a believer or not.
When shall we Maltese witness our Christianity? Only in church on Sundays? or during rituals and rites of marriages, First Holy Communion, titular feasts?

Thank you Mr Atkinson for doing your best to help in what was a terrible situation.

What Mr Atkinson doesn't know is that I was doing my job when I was taking photos. You see SIR, I am a photo journalist and my photos were published on the Sunday paper it-Torca not on Youtube. So please lay back and leave the pros to do their job. And by the way it would do no harm to apologise to the two soldiers and the onlookers who did not try to be heroes and could have ended up causing more harm like Ricardo Flask said. God forbid us all from onlooker heroes. As Hector Farrugia said its enough help to call 112 if you are no medic.

My initial comments to this forum were based on finding out how the two seriously injured casualties, along with disappointment at on-lookers, taking photos, discussing what had happened and wanting to have a look, without trying to help.
I helped the best I could, and stepped back when your own rescue personnel took over. So, Mr Pisani, you probably took the photos that included myself post arrival of your rescuers.
Maybe it is indicative of today's society. where people are more likely top take photos and put the on YouTube, and yes I do think given the same situation in the UK there may well be the same response. What has happened to the caring society ?

Before people start speaking left right and centre, arresting passers by, etc., first elementary thing is to call for immediate assistance. 112 for ambulance and fire services; and give all information. That's a first help.
Secondly those who do not know anything about medicine, first aid or such like, should keep their distance and let others in the know how to do their work, without PUTTING THE VICTIMS IN A WORST STATE THAN THEY ARE.
Third should there be a fire or danger of a fire due to petrol, etc., better have a pyrene ready at hand to douse any flames which may be coming from a vehicle.
Fourth- try to comfort those in need of help. That's the least one can do.
And lastly: there is no Civil Defence in Malta. Only Civil Protection. and idiotic onlookers should immediately vacate the scene. Many thanks to all those who give a helping hand to traffic victims. They may have saved a life. Who knows. I myself was one of them.

Unfortunate as these situations are, I cannot help thinking that in countries like the US and the UK, if you stop and try to help, and something goes wrong, you'll find yourself sued by the victims for various stupid reasons. If this trend arrives here, then no wonder people think twice before helping out. Such is the modern world unfortunately.

It's very important to acknowledge the fact the we, as maltese society are way back in what regards community response, however a basic first aid couirse is not enough for a first aider to help entrapped persons get out safely out off a car. All that a first aider can do is to alert the emergency servies with useful information, try to control people from smoking near the scene, and if possible assist the inured without removing them from the car. Removing persons out of a car is a job that has to be left the CPD staff together with the ambulance nurses and emergency doctors.

I fully agree with mr. ricardo in his statement.

Ms. Farrugia has some good points when she states " They all stopped to look at the commotion, and they were all playing investigator, judge and jury as to what happened and why" but again; as she is not fully invlolved in emergency services ;she goes again with this first aid course thing.

Regadring mr agius, it is obvious that he is a member of the STJ ambulance, so he must sell his product. First aid courses are an excellent way to deal with minor emergencies as well as providing BLS (basic life support), not for major emergencies.

Ms. Hensen comments are very positive; infact over the last two years, a tv programm held by the Civil Protection Department named "X'Gara?" was held on the national station by Mrs. Matilde Balzan, in which adivses were given on how to prevent and deal with emergency situations.

To come to an end, it is important to let emergency services personel work and deal with the situation, however help given by passer by's should not invlove getting casualties out of the car unless there is a serious treath, such as fire.

Regarding Mr.Atkinson, he should deeply think & meditate on what happened on that incident, as some of his statements are false, starting with the statement "The two casualties in the front of the vehicle were unconscious and unresponsive". All i am asking from him to think before starting to do such statements.

With all due respect to Mr Atkinson. I was on the scene of the accident and also took photos when the rescue was still in progress. I recall very clearly that all the male passengers were walking on their own without any help. The two females, the driver and the passenger, were all the time concious, talking and sometimes even screaming in pain. Mr Atkinson is seen in one of my photos behind the onlookers looking at the rescue operation. It is true he was there and if he did use his experience to help the injured then we all should be thankful especially those involved.
But it is very dangerous to suggest for non-experienced people to start helping the injured people as this could do more harm. As regards to the two army uniformed they did help by controlling the onlookers to leave the rescuers and the medical team work. anybody
So Mr Atkinson thanks again for all the help but please never suggest to who is not trained to start helping the injured people....we have very professional and dedicated people to that in the CPD, ERT and all the medical staff plus the police and army.

First Aid is not a course which you do once and that's it... one needs to keep up to date and do refresher courses. It is true that we tend to look and we do not act, as I once tried my best to help a guy who got stuck in his car after an accident and his car was catching fire. I was lucky that I managed to control flames and lucky that Civil Protection did not take long to arrive. However, sometimes doing nothing could be better than doing something without the necessary knowledge. Trying to take out an injured person from a car could lead to his/her death or paralyses.

They all stopped to look at the commotion, and they were all playing investigator, judge and jury as to what happened and why.

Very few people in Malta are trained in first aid. The few that do would rather not get 'embroiled' in any accident, lest they get the blame should anything go wrong. Sad but true. The worrying thing is that instead of helping, some of them actually stand in the way of the emergency services, 'to get a better view of the proceedings'.

First Aid should be an elementary subject at secondary school and continuing to happen in post secondary and tertiary institutions. What use are lawyers, doctors, engineers, IOT specialists etc if they can't keep themselves and their fellow countrymen alive?

What Mr. Atkinson did, judging from the description, is something that can be learnt in a basic course as done by St. John's and Red Cross. It's not rocket science!

For all those that wish to get some info on first aid courses, just browse for the sites for St. John's ambulance or the Malta Red Cross.

A site that I have found to be very interesting is also the St. John's ambulance website which has full first aid advice as well as audio descriptions http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice.aspx . As advised within it, these do not substitute a first aid course but may help those who have not had time to get a refresher.

those onlookers should have been arrested on omission to give help.these is a grave crime and we Maltese must learn that omission to give is punishable by law. It is really degrading hearing this words from a tourist.sometimes i feel ashamed being a Maltese really ashamed

It certainly needs like we could do with help, especially in putting across to the general public how people can help and on how to respond in such accidents. Maybe the civil defence crew could organise a series on "what to do", on PBS, in such an eventuality.
It was incredible that Mr Atkinson's instructions were ignored, possibly because bystanders did not realise he was a fiefighter and knew what he was doing.

I for one lack any training whatsoever in first aid and should be ashamed for myself, unfortunatly that is Malta's education system for you. But to have an expert by your side and still do nothing is absolutly disgracefull!!!

I seriously think the police should investigate and those that refused to help fined. We have to send a message that failure to help is as much as aiding in the destruction of lives and property.