CRASH!

Last Friday afternoon I was sitting around watching South Park and drinking a beer. (You know... a work day). Outside I heard a motorcycle go by really fast.

And I mean really fast, as if the bike left the ground.

I got up and looked out the window to see a deer lying dead in the road. But that's it. No bike. No people. Weird.

Then I looked up the road a couple of hundred yards and I saw them; one rider was down, in the woods.

I have a bunch of first aid/rescue training, and it looked like I was first on the scene. It'd been a while since I'd been part of a rescue, but there wasn't much to do but keep the guy's neck and spine stable until we got a c-collar and backboard. The rider was very lucky (well, except for the part where he hit a deer); he flew in the air, slid for a while and busted a femur when he hit a tree—but other than that he was okay. He was barely bleeding.

At some point, before the police and firetrucks and ambulances showed up, someone said, "wow... that's all poison ivy!"

It sure was!

The victim goes, "oh crap" and tries to get up, which was kind of funny. What wasn't funny were the blisters that showed up on my arms over the next couple of days. They were as big as jelly beans.

So remember fellow amateur rescuers, before you check ABCs (Airway. Breathing. Circulation), do a scene survey. See what your running into before you run in.