Kris’ Crash

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Yesterday, late afternoon, I was going to ride ‘cross (for the 2nd time this year) with Bill and I get a call from my brother Kris. He had a run-in with a automobile on the way to the Tuesday night ride. So, I undress and get in my van to go get him and his bike. He said he thought his collarbone was broken. It was only a few blocks from our house.

When I got to the intersection, there were a couple police cars and an ambulance had just arrived. Kris was across the street and his shoulder was sagging pretty badly. I walked over as the EMT’s were getting out of the ambulance. When Kris turned around to talk to them, I realized that he needed to go to the emergency room. His whole shoulder muscle was hanging out. I felt his collarbone and it was fine.

Kris told the EMT’s that he didn’t need their service and that I was going to take him to the hospital. They said that they should look him over and it wouldn’t cost him anything. I told them that I would have him to the ER room before they were done taking his blood pressure.

So, Kris and I walk across the street to get into the van, while Bill put his bike in the van. The EMT’s and a woman police officer walk across the street and they said they wanted to check his vital signs before we left. He said he would rather just go to the ER room.

That is when it started going badly for me. I told Kris to get into the van and the police officer told me to shut up and go to my car. She was shouting. I said something back, like I’m taking him to the hospital. She told me that if I didn’t go to my van she was going to arrest me. I asked her for what. She said shouting. I told her that wasn’t against the law. That is when the handcuffs came out.

She told me to put my hands behind my back, which I did immediately. Kris and the EMT guys were standing 3 feet away. She kept yanking my arms and telling me not to struggle and resist. I looked at Kris and the EMT guys and calmly said, “does this look like I’m struggling.” She told me to sit on the ground and cross my legs. It was something out of a “Cops” episode. I asked her if the she was having a bad day. That didn’t sit so well. Then she proceeded to tell him what she needed to do. Anytime I tried to ask a question, she told me to not interrupt her/shut up or something of the like. She told me that she needed to finish her paperwork. I asked her if her paperwork superseded medical care? She said that if Kris wanted to go to the hospital in the ambulance, he could, but if he wanted to go with me then she needed to finish.

She wouldn’t let me talk anymore and told me that she was going to arrest me or I had a choice to go back to the van and sit and not interrupt. I told her I would go to my van. If my brother wouldn’t of been standing there dripping blood all over the ground, I would have told her to fuck off and let her arrest me. As she was taking the handcuffs off, she told me to put my right hand on my head while she removed the left one. I asked her what for, but don’t think she replied. Anyway, I went back to the van and stood around another 10 minutes while another police car arrived. In the meantime, the EMT guys were looking over Kris across the street. The woman police officer that handcuffed me spent the next 5 minutes explaining the last 10 minutes to the new cop that had arrived. I calmly walked over to the new guy and told him I needed to take my brother to the hospital. I asked him why she was so concerned with the paperwork and not so concerned with medical care. He didn’t really know.

Anyway, we left. Kris was bleeding all over the place. When we got to the ER room, he was dripping blood all over. A couple guys immediately took him back to a nurse, who immediately took him back into ER. Right then the police guy came in. I walked back with him. I asked him what the deal was. Why the woman police officer was more concerned about the paperwork than the medical treatment. He said something like if Kris would have left before the paperwork was finished, he was technically leaving the scene of an accident. Something like hit and run. I didn’t really dispute what he was saying. I was thinking, bullshit.

So, we spent the next 3 hours in the ER room. They gave Kris a CT scan of the chest which turned out good. And then spent a long time sewing up his back and finger. He has something like 50 stitches, internal ones too, in his back and a few more on one of his figures. Not too bad for running into a car that was going 35 mph.

This really was about Kris’ deal, but that was just an accident. An accident that turned out pretty good. He could have been hurt way worse than he was. He’s going to be pretty crazy sore for a while, but he’ll be fine.

But, what I don’t understand is the police. There is no place for guns and handcuffs at the scene of a normal bicycle/car accident. Especially when no one is pissed off about the cause. My brother needed medical care. I told the police where I was taking him. That should have been good enough. This threatening by arrest thing that the police use is just wrong. I have been handcuffed three times in my life now. This wasn’t one of the times that should have been the case. I can’t decide if I should call/ write someone at the police department or newspaper and tell them my story. Maybe I’ll just send them a link to this and be done with it. It will take way more than this incident to cause a change in this screwed up occupation.

Picture from the scene. Pretty gruesome.

The repair in action.

Before wipe down.

End result.

48 thoughts on “Kris’ Crash

  1. kim west

    man, that hurts just to LOOK at it. ouch. here’s to a full and speedy recovery.

    and as to the police behaviour, ya just never know WHAT the f*** is gonna happen with them. obviously, she is NOT an “avid” cyclist.

     
  2. Dan Fox

    Do you have the officer’s name? File a complaint. You might save the next guy from bleeding to death by the side of the road.

    Those are nasty images. I’m glad your brother is alright.

     
  3. josh estes

    she probably would have arrested you for “interfering a police investigation” or if you were really irate “disturbing the peace.” both of which are bs charges.

    anyways, glad it looks like your bro is going to be ok.

     
  4. Dave Miller

    Today for me is the 7th week since I ran into a car that pulled out in front of me when I was going down a hill at about 28 mph. The result was me taking a flying leap over the trunk of the car, flipping over to my back and landing on my back and head. No recall of the trip. Broken rib, concussion and 5 staples in the head. Brused knee and inneer thighs. a few scraps. Sprained rists and jamed little finger on left hand. I was very lucky. The car’s driver was given a ticket for not yelding the right of way to me. I am finally getting back to normal. Chris’s crash looks really bad. Hope he heals up fast with n0 problems. Good job with the pic’s. The police woman over reacted. You should file a complant.

     
  5. Bo

    So, the injured brother calls you, before calling the police when he knows he is hurt badly? The police show up, he has lost a lot of blood from a very bad wound and refusing care, not to mention clearly you are in his, and their ear trying to get him away from the scene. EMT’s are there, who are trained to do everything possible to save this guys life, and you with who knows what crackerjack training, thinks it is better to waste yet more time and drive him to the hospital yourself. First of all, this guy could have been in shock, both the police and EMT’s understand that, and he clearly was Ok with getting assistance, because he did let them take his vitals, which BTW were needed to tell just how bad he was. On top of that, you are briskly trying to remove him and his bike from the scene of an accident, which is illegal. Bottom line, you weren’t even at the accident, hence have no business doing what you were. You were interfering with an accident scene where you put your brother’s life in danger by wasting everyone’s time. It clearly was an odd scenario from the officers standpoint because you were acting unreasonable. Again, with shock it is understandable that the victim could have been agitated and you only made it worst.

    You leave a lot of points out, and seem to make the police and EMT’s the bad people in all of this. You also put your “knowledge” and “common sense” above someone trained in this type of thing. I just don’t believe your story, other than the obvious that you put your brother in danger not only by persuading him to refuse care of EMT’s, but also taking precious time away from the emergency personnel’s ability to care for your brother.

    Use this as a learning experience; let the experts do his job and be lucky your brothers injuries were not worse, where you did cost him his life. In the end, stop demanding attention and give it where it was needed; your brother.

     
  6. WildCat

    Yep. The lady cops are the worst. When I’m normally out driving and see the police I don’t mind them at all. I like it most when they patrol in my neighborhood. I’m not doing anything wrong, usually. But man let me tell you. When I see it’s a lady cop I straighten up and mind my P’s & Q’s. When a lady cop is around I could nearly be inducted into saint-hood. It’s kinda like what I call “Short Man Syndrome”. You know how shorter guys a lot of the time feel like they have to puff up their chest and be dbag tough-guys. Lady cops are like that.

    I hope you heal quickly Kris! You’ll surely be good to go by Bazaar time next year!

     
  7. Jason Ozenberger

    As an EMT, I have a responsibility to the patient to care for their best interests. I would have no problems with you transporting Kris to the hospital, but I would insist on giving Kris a quick examination to make sure there were no serious underlying injuries that might not be obvious when you got there. Spinal injuries since this was a car vs. cyclist crash. Internal bleeding. Other life threatening conditions that would need to be monitored and stabilized by professionals. Also, as an EMT, I would be required to inform Kris and you that if you did refuse our care and transport, what the outcome could possibly be. It would take about a minute to determine the stability of your brother.

    On the other hand, the officer was acting rash, and I don’t think that it was necessary for her to handle the situation the way she did. I think sending a link to your blog would be a good idea, especially given the wide variety of people that read it.

    Here’s hoping Kris has a speedy recovery!

     
  8. Steve Wathke

    Tell Kris that our ride is fun but it’s not worth getting hit by a car to get there! Glad he’s gonna be ok. I was wondering where the hell he was last night!

     
  9. Paul Deninger

    Gotta agree with some of what Bo stated above with the qualifier of: Cops have a lot of power and the KNOW it. Therefore they can be the biggest assholes in the worldand get away with it.
    Your class showed when you recognized this and defused the escalating situation. A surprising number of people would not have been capable of that in such a stressful situation.
    Best wishes and a speed recovery to your brother as well

     
  10. Hudson Luce

    I’m surprised they didn’t immobilize his neck or anything, with the impact and deep laceration that close to his neck he could have been in trouble. Good thing they did a CAT scan at the hospital to rule out any cervical spinal stuff. If the lady cop had been reasonable, she would have followed you to the hospital in her car, since there were other officers on the scene who could have finished the on-scene investigation. Paperwork does not trump medical care, she could have done hers outside the ER.

     
  11. Hudson Luce

    @Bo: The “professionals” in this case were acting against all reason; the EMTs did not immobilize Kris’ head using a rigid cervical collar and a backboard with straps (static.spineuniverse.com/pdf/traumaguide/1.pdf ), and the officer delayed necessary access to medical treatment and transportation to the ER for at least 15 minutes while she “filled out paperwork” and generally asserted her high-school hall monitor security function and power as a cop. Neither the EMTs nor the lady cop were acting in Kris’ best interest; in fact, if Kris had sustained a cervical spine injury and turned his head quickly to see what was going on with his brother, the situation could have gotten a lot worse very quickly. It strikes me as being pretty close to malpractice on the part of the EMTs not to have put Kris on a backboard before they, or Steve, or anyone transported him. As for the police officer, she benefitted no one by her hysterical and inappropriate actions, and she should be required to either undergo training for proper procedure at the site of an accident, get some sort of psychological counseling, or find another occupation. We don’t need hotheads with guns in a police department, especially in Topeka.

     
  12. Zach

    Bo, your a drama queen. No ones life was in danger. If he could say he doesnt want to be examined and walk to a car, he doesnt need it. Besides, there is no such thing as forced medical evaluation, you have the RIGHT to refuse medical care.
    It would take about 10s to realize that he was fine and didnt need an EMT or an ambulance. He had cuts and bled some, he needed to be treated sure, but not an ambulance ride, etc…overkill.
    Studies have shown over and over again that the only thing that matters is getting to the hospital as fast as possible, also many studies have shown that if your driven to the hospital by someone else, youll get there faster and have a better outcome. No offense to EMTs who do great work, but if its bad…really bad, the only thing you can do to help is to get someone to the hospital asap.
    Sitting around checking vitals on someone who is awake, responsive, standing, and appropriate is just wasting time. Their vitals are within normal limits, or they couldnt do the above.

     
  13. Zach

    Cant help but notice in the pics that sterility wasnt even attempted during closure. While its difficult to obtain strict sterility in the ED, I certainly would make an effort (washout, prep, sterile draping, and gloves).
    I hope they gave you guys some antibiotics as they closed it skin tight. Good luck.

     
  14. tilford97 Post author

    Bo-You don’t believe my story? I did leave a couple facts out. Like, when Kris initially talked to the paramedics, they said he could leave and have me take him to the hospital. It wasn’t until the police officer intervened were they were brought back into the mix.

    There was no question that the main attention by the officer was the “paper work”. And she did nothing to expedite that process. The medical attention was not a concern of hers.

    I’m not making the EMT guys look like bad guys. They were great. They understood that it is a $1000, 2 mile trip to the ER room. Since obviously the police were not letting us leave, they did everything that they could to expedite the process.

    “Stop demanding attention?” I’m just writing of my afternoon yesterday. Just throwing it out there. And, of course, it’s from my perspective. It’s my blog and I can write anything I want.

    Kris definitely has another story. And the cop probably has one of her own. So do the EMT guys. But, I don’t know theirs. Just writing mine. Sorry if you don’t agree with it.

    Steve

     
  15. Vdavis

    Who was at fault?
    While BO might be kinda holding the EMT/police party line and I don’t fully disagree. I would rather we had a little more liberty in our lives to make our own decisions. It is not necessarily true that the interests (maybe more accurately the opinion) of the Police or the EMT are the same as ours.

    “injured brother calls you” A person should be free to do this and not be judged.

    “very bad wound and refusing care” This is a tough call, it could be that there is a mental problem due to the accident. They should make that determination and the act accordingly. (Kris is free to act independently or not).

    “briskly trying to remove him and his bike from the scene of an accident, which is illegal.”
    The police can and should explain there plans if they expect the Kris and Steve or anyone to go along with them. How can they if they don’t know the plan. Obviously at some point the bicycle and Kris can leave. The should be clear (and honest) instruction as to when.

    Probably said to much.

     
  16. josh estes

    bo is short for bolinda, who as we all know was the female cop on scene.

    how can you be so disrespectful on someone else’s blog, much less steve tilfords?

     
  17. Trudi und Sepp Karrer

    Hello Steve, I’m just glad that your brother is fine. I hope that he will be back on his bike soon. Please send him my love.
    To alot of people paperwork seems to be important. When we had a girl for a vacation and she got bit by a dog from nighbours, we brought her to the hospital. The first question was: We have to fill out the papers, who is going to pay for this?….

     
  18. Bo Hater

    Bo, zip it, the cop was wrong and wielding her little bit of power when she should have been helping like escorting the brothers to the ER. If you read the story you would have known the EMT’s already released him to do what he wanted to do. The cop was just filling out her report and could have went to the ER later to get statements, and or the bike if needed. I would go to the police station and fill out a written complaint against said officer and ask to speak to her superior as well.

     
  19. Brent

    Bo, I am sure if the professionals were competent in this instance, Steve would have allowed them to do their job. GI Jane is clearly a professional paper work filer but she is clearly not a professional police officer.

     
  20. BO

    First of all; I am not a female or a cop; my initials are BO. Secondly, I read the story; though it appears many of you have not. Saying he was released by EMT’s, then approached later by the police officer is wrong per his comment. “The EMT’s and a woman police officer walk across the street and they said they wanted to check his vital signs before we left”. Then you told your brother to “get in the car” when an officer was trying to reason with him/communicate the importance of allowing the EMT to look him over. That was your mistake right there because now you are directly interfering, but also leaving the scene of an accident prior to being released.

    It’s clear you guys have your own little bike club and are protective of your own; even biased. My point of view throws out the emotion and is objective to not just the situation, but the way he wrote it. Clearly he is trying to put his position as being wronged, and who knows, maybe she was harsh, but you have to remember, she does not know you, or what happened, and is solely looking to find answers as to what happened, but also look in his best interest. When you are refusing medical treatment, that by the way you cannot do (only he can unless he is physically/mentally unable), then they have the right and obligation to remove you from the situation. Again, you were not even involved in the accident, so all you were doing is interfering. I can appreciate you are his brother, and clearly want what is best for him, but that does not mean you know what is best, or can interfere with an investigation he is a part of.

    As for the police coming to pick up the bike if they need to see it; you guys have to remember, this is not a “bike”. By law, it is a vehicle and the rider is held to the same standards/laws as any automobile. So, when it is involved in an accident, it and or the driver cannot leave the scene of an accident until they are released by law enforcement; period. Additionally, I am not sure why you would want to when trained medical staff is right there to tell you how you should proceed; they are not conspiratorial and want your money… Clearly the officer was escorting the EMT, because the EMT was not satisfied the patient was stable; hence asking the officer to assist in getting vitals before they thought it was of no danger to release him. It has nothing to do with anything other than they want to ensure he is stable enough to transport, and or has necessary care to get him to the hospital. I repeat the reason you were singled out and cuffed is because you were escalating the situation and they needed to get control as to perform it according to the law and their procedures. Yes, your brother can refuse treatment; however the police and or paramedics need to deduce he is the one making the decisions and that he is mentally capable of making said decision. More on this (shock) to come…

    As for the guy who indicated “Drama Queen” and all the false medical info you put in your post, you are wrong on many counts. I am not a doctor; however I was in the Emergency Support field for many years as a volunteer EMT, a Rescue Diver and Ski Patrol. I have numerous medical certifications including proper techniques on stabilization of a patient, and or when to do it. I have also been in many situations, seen some very bad things, and I am happy to say even have saved a life with my actions. Not being a doctor, but being trained in trauma situations, I do understand the golden hour, and also the importance of correctly identifying life threatening injuries and or getting the patient the appropriate care (stabilized) until the time to which they will arrive for medical treatment. In this case, he was bleeding moderately, and I cannot know how much blood he lost, nor can I know how this guy was reacting to the situation. I do know it was a deep gash, that had potential to be dangerous per blood loss and it is too high to hit any major arteries, but more likely something called shock. You know, indicating that because a person is walking, talking, and potentially even laughing as PROVING he is stable is BS and 100% wrong. Adrenalin kicks in and masks the pain the body could/should be feeling, so often times you will feel less pain, if any as a result. This is also why hours later, or days you feel worse than when it happened. This lack of pain, and or the potential that there is some form of shock, can drive a person to walk around, or talk as if they are just fine, then be dead minutes, or hours later. I have seen it. As for the drama of exaggerating the cut, if you have ANY experience, you also would know that beyond adrenalin point I made, that people can go into some form of shock for very minor injuries, such as a cut on the finger. So, the bleeding may or may not have been an issue, the shock is always something to keep an eye on as it alone has the ability to make this type of an injury fatal. Again, going back to the situation, with him escalating the issue, he was also escalating the anxiety levels of his brother and potentially making a worse situation, which a cop will jump on immediately. This is why you see EMT’s casually walk to a man with seemingly very bad injuries, show no negative thoughts and in some instances even joke with the patient. Shock is very real and you need to get that patient comfortable. Back to the medical personnel and the officer; they understand and are taught what to look for in shock; obviously more so in the EMT’s. They know how to spot it, but also to use the info that is given by the patient as a guide, not a rule. In other words, you listen to everything he tells you, but don’t dismiss what he fails to tell you. Even in the case where he says he is fine, they are trained to “prove” he is fine. Adrenaline and shock can mask true issues. Shock can disorient the person, make them combative, sad, and happy or just act odd. In their opinion, it was unreasonable for your brother to refuse them to ensure he was healthy enough to travel, hence he was irrational. I know this because your brother had a 3 inch gash, that was quite deep, bleeding quite a bit and with muscle hanging out and based on the depth could have been bad. Granted, he did not see that, but he did see the blood and I am sure the reaction from people on the site. Not a fault of your brother; who knows, maybe the guy is a rock and is tough as nails, or maybe he did not feel much pain, hence “thought” he was Ok, or maybe he was in some form of shock. Reality is, the EMT’s were the ONLY people onsite who could make an educated evaluation/decision on how to proceed, and their only desire on the planet was to make sure your brother was Ok. Yes, likely there was no danger here, but you just did not know, nor could anyone by seeing him walk/talk, or looking at these pics of the injury. If you say different Zach, you have no idea what you are talking about.

    As for the drama of life and death; again from looking at it, I don’t believe that, but that is an opinion that you cannot know until you examine the patient and run vitals to see how his body is reacting. Sure, I was a little harsh, because what is most important here is the health of someone who obviously had a lot of trust in the poster. In certain instances children, spouses, family, whatever look up to people and take their “opinion” seriously. I can tell you I have run into people who for whatever reason make bad decisions and ignore the experts. You can have immense power with family, but you also have to know when to let an expert TRY and give you their opinion.

    What I don’t get here is it was in your brother’s best interest to have the EMT’s check him out. It cost nothing, and in that time they can determine if he should go via ambulance where they can work to stabilize him as they drive to the hospital, or if they were completely fine to release him. You, them, or anyone on this board could have made the appropriate decision without first getting his vitals. Sure, the cop was likely an a$$, but there are more important things here and per what I see of your story, I don’t agree you took the right protocol.

    So, you can certainly write the police department, especially because maybe it will allow you to understand their side of the situation. I think you will learn they only wanted what was best for your brother and though emotions are understandable on your side, they have to do and act in the capacity to control the situation. Yeah, she likely was an a$$, and did not have enough experience to better handle the situation, but I think if you look at your actions you will realize the same.

    As for the problem with guns, what exactly is the issue with law enforcement having guns? Did I miss something? Did she pull it on you? When I hear of these people complaining of this and or law enforcement/authority in general, I quickly have to question them and their attempts at escalating, or even being rational thinking individuals….

    And Tilford, you now indicate the EMT’s released him, but in your story your wrote that they came back with the officer to get his vitals. Not sure which it is, but again I am looking solely at what you wrote. I was not there, nor was the 10 posters who happily followed along in agreement with you being wronged.

    As for the paperwork, you indicate he finally let the EMT’s look at him. The officer will work in conjunction with the EMT’s and if they tell the officer he needs to get to the hospital immediately, then he does. If they indicate he is stable and in no danger, they will keep him on site. In the end, to me it looks as if this all could have been much more efficient. Had you tried not to force control, the officer may have treated you better; you have to admit, per your post you made some wisecracks, and were argumentative with the officer. You both likely elevated each other with the end result being, yes she may have “hurt your feelings”, but from what you write, I don’t see anything she did that was wrong…

     
  21. tilford97 Post author

    Bo-Man, you need to get a job. It’s hard enough for me to write a blog post every other day or so. Your response is longer than the original story.

    The difference between the police officer and me in that situation was that we had different agendas. And part of her job, in this instance, is diffuse the situation if needed. Not escalate it. This was not a crime scene. It was an accident scene.

    You are right. I did leave out of my original post that the EMT told Kris he could go. That was the case. We didn’t head to the van until they said he could go. Everything involving me was after that point.

    There isn’t an okay, go ahead, no now stop. The police woman was the one that intervened after Kris was told he could leave.

    She said that if he wanted to go to the hospital now, he needed to go in the ambulance, but if that wasn’t what he wanted to do, then he needed to stay while she finished her paperwork.

    Don’t try to mix up her agenda. She was not interested the least bit in his proper medical care. Only crossing the T’s. When the second officer showed up, he immediately told us we could go to the emergency room and he would met us there.

    I kind of understand some of where you are coming from, but like you said a few times, you weren’t there, so I can’t give anything you write much credence at all.

    Sorry.

     
  22. chris creed

    Holy crap! I just went through a similar incident, thankfully for us not nearly as traumatic. I would at first chalk it up to where we live..Barnhart, Mo., but I assume, where you are is not a huge city(maybe I’m wrong). Anyway, my wife who is 6 months pregnant with our 5th kid, rolled a car 2 miles from my house. The police and fire department, let her go to the hospital with a neighbor, while I went to get our kids from school and the babysitters. I was concerned with the whole leaving the scene thing, so, I gave them my card, and told them our names, and they said get the heck outa here and take care of your wife.
    Maybe they were bending the rules or law, but they knew what was more important in the situation at hand. It’s obvious that your officer did not. Aftern seeing your photos, it is hard to fathom that anyone would hold up the progress of healthcare to an obviously needy person.
    Sorry you went through this, and I hope he heals fast…and you stay outa jail…
    Creed

     
  23. Geos

    Mr. BO.

    You criticize Mr. Tilford for “calling attention to himself” and in another overwrought posting tell us all about “yourself” and your stunning array of medical experience and certifications. Get serious dude, Mr. Tilford is relating a personal account of something that happened to his brother and his concern and efforts to assist. It is his blog and personal opinion of the situation, why you chose to be so harshly critical is puzzling.

    If you feel the need to comment on the practices of emergency treatment, law enforcement and medical ethics I am sure there are sites where you can bore others of similar interest. If you like to read interesting tidbits about Mr. Tilford and his “personal” observations come on back. Otherwise you are a downer about a guy looking out for his brother.

    Steve, your brother looks just like you. I hope he has a speedy recovery. It looks like a shark bit him.

     
  24. BO

    Tilford, it looks like you need to speak with the PD to get some answers. I don’t know, your story keeps changing though. It seems to me you had an attitude from the beginning. Like I said, you probably have some leg to stand on because she “may” have hurt your feelings, but that is all you will get. Also like I said; per your original post, you instigated the issue.

    And Geos, I never indicated I had a “stunning array” of experience or certifications; to the contrary, I believe I indicated I was not a doctor but did have experience in the area to which I am speaking. It was a rebuttal to the crap Zach was spewing. He was wrong and I was correcting him and helping understand why it was wrong of tilford to do what he did. Get beyond all the emotion crap of hurt feelings, and logically understand for medical purposes, tilford was wrong based on his first story.

    As for criticizing tilfords blog and or opinion, yes I read it with an unbiased eye and saw that it was purely one sided and appeared inflated, or at minimum facts only provided in his favor to back his story up. As he has the right to write his opinion, I too have the right to disagree. If you don’t like that maybe you should move to North Korea where you don’t have to worry about others opinions being “forced” on you…

    I find it intriguing that tilford later indicated the EMT said it was ok to leave? Which is it? That is in conflict with his original post, which again tells me he is trying to sway support in his favor. You may be right, she may have been dead wrong, but its all in the details you provide.

    I understand your little group of tricycleists like to give each other support, but it is not right for you to do it unconditionally. Your unwavering support only intensifies the fire and does not support, or give honesty to tilford. I on the other hand, am…

    BTW, hope all is well with your brother!!!

     
  25. Zach

    Listen BO, I understand where your coming from, however none of what i said was false. Also, what your saying about EMTs only wanting whats best for the pt, that is partly true (though is suspect they felt he was just fine), but isnt why they wanted one check , or why the above EMT mentions the refusal paperwork. Thats all for legal issues, so they can say they attempted care and were refused, therefore they are not liable. Thats its. It doesnt matter if he was wisecracking or it was the scene of an accident, he should have been able to go to the hospital, they can follow him there and get what they need. That is the USUAL protocol. Even if what was described was way biased, it was extremely out of line from normal behavior. Its not like this was two criminals, it was a car accident, and the only threat the officer felt was to her ego.
    Shock is real sure, but most of what your talking about is supratentorial shock. Psychological. No one goes into actual physiological shock for a cut on the finger. Ridiculous. The blood volume (since he was mobile he probably wouldnt have neurogenic shock, and cardiac shock wasnt likely either) that must be lost before you see a change in vital signs is actually significant.
    I empathize with your training and implementation of doing whats right first, and since i believe you are of good intentions my guess is if you were on scene you would have seen he was ok and let him go without a fight. You mustnt have had many negative interactions with the police, count yourself lucky, because they can be exactly as described, without any prompting (except speeding). Your just not going to pass judgement without being there firsthand, and i can respect that.
    On the other hand, in the manner Kris was described, and the photos shown, i can almost guarantee he had good vitals. It would be weird if he didnt. I feel like I can say from the description and the photos, just as i know i can rightly say he got subpar work done on him as well. Obvious from the photos.

     
  26. nailheadtom

    Police officers are supposed to be trained, licensed professionals that can handle emergency situations. That’s what they’re paid to be. It seems that if the arrival of the two cops had been reversed, Steve would have had a different story to tell. The second cop apparently knew what he was doing and had the priorities straight. The first cop was unprofessional. Untrained people can’t be expected to handle emergencies with the same facility as professionals. It was up to the cops to handle it diplomatically and efficiently. One of them couldn’t do it.

     
  27. Susie

    Tilford: I hope your brother has a speedy recovery!

    However, I would like to thank Bo for being the only intelligent person to respond to your comments.

    In my opinion you were the only one that impeded your brother’s treatment. I am quite sure the EMTs and the ambulance are better equipped to treat your brother than you and your van. In addition you interferred with the the “accident” investigation. How do you or any of your cronies know if a crime was or was not committed. Could have been a drunk driver, could have been road rage!!! Who could find out what happened or who was at fault when they had to deal with you!!! As for the officer, she did just what she had to do with someone that was interferring. She did defuse the situation by handcuffing you. Problem solved!!!

    As for complaining on the officer, maybe you should look in the mirror. Are you and your friends under constant scrutiny and critism at your place of employment by the public?????

     
  28. Levi Baker

    if all these folks spent as much time riding as they do reading up on mr. tilford and sniping at his detractors, we’d have a lot bigger and faster fields turn out at the midwest races

     
  29. Hudson Luce

    I’ll not repeat my earlier comments, the thing that needed to be done was to get Kris stabilized (done), check his vitals and neurological status (done), check for neck pain (and I would have put him in a back board regardless) before moving him from the spot he was lying on the grass (half done, no back board), and transported him to the ER stat. That’s it. I don’t care if he gets transported in the ambulance or Steve’s van, he’ll be on his back dripping blood either way, and he wasn’t losing enough blood to go into shock, although if that bitch of a police officer had screwed around “filling out her report” and such other BS, he could have done so. By not acting in an appropriate and professional manner, she prolonged and perhaps increased Kris’ pain and could have caused him a severe injury. Here’s the place to go to file a complaint, there’s a form on the page you can print out: http://www.topeka.org/tpd/internal_investigation.shtml

     
  30. j

    Tilford:
    Sorry about your brother and also sorry about the incident. For what its worth, I’m a police officer, and I would strongly recommend you file a complaint. If she acted inappropriately, you will have done your part in ensuring she is notified and/or disciplined for how she acted. Hopefully, this could save someone else a bad experience. If there were legitimate reasons she acted this way, it would be good for you to know that, too.

    I won’t get into right or wrong, but its obvious she could have handled it better, if only from the proof that you walked away with this perspective. Police officers are never going to get too good of a rap since we’re usually in the position of having to be the “bad parent”, but we also do plenty of stuff on our own to screw it up. Sorry you experienced what looks to be a perfect example of this.

    File that complaint – most people never do – so problems don’t get resolved. Have a good winter and hope to see you back in Texas next spring.

     
  31. Rod Lake

    Inquiring Mind want to hear about the other two times in cuffs. Note to Bo: but we don’t want to hear your comments. Always trying to give you blog ideas, Steve!

     
  32. Chris

    I would file a complaint with the police department. If she has no history it’s no big whoop. For all you know though this will be her 8th complaint and she has a major personality problem.

     
  33. Mat Ankney

    Steve, we tell you to shut up all the time and you never listen! so it appears to be a complete AC separation? did they not do any type of surgery on the AC while they were in there. that is going to be painful for a while.

     
  34. BO

    Yeah Rod, you want to hear about “his other two times in cuffs”, but don’t want to hear from me huh? So, you are a blind and unconditional follower? Don’t let facts get in the way, huh? Tilford can do no wrong and you don’t care if he does; just make sure nobody speaks of it? Tells me a lot about you… You may want to do some soul searching…

    Secondly; other two times in cuffs? So, this is the third time? I have lived on this earth 40 years and managed elude the cuffs completely. Once, possibly a mistake; twice we begin to question; 3 starts to show a pattern. Not implying criminal to any capacity here, but if you have to be restrained, maybe that speaks of lacking self control; or just putting yourself in questionable situations. But who knows, this is a third party who mentioned this and likely has zero facts; or maybe a poor attempt at an inside joke.

    Tilford, I apologize if you believe I was attacking you in any way. My attempt here was to provide you with an opinion coming from someone in the field who has actually dealt with similar situations; from the other side, so take my recommendations and or opinions as you will. Regardless if you made mistakes here or not, it was an emotional time and you were just trying to do what was right. I understand, your only concern was your brother, which is admirable, but sometimes we all make mistakes and I was attempting to give you a view outside of your own; like you asked for. To be honest, I am more concerned about your followers here as many just show no signs of reason and or sense. I can appreciate standing behind someone, or supporting them, but if you are looking for help as you indicated in your Blog; clearly these people are not the ones you can rely on to give it to you strait… Keep in mind, all these people read the same Blog I did, and none of them were at the accident site; the only difference is that I am being COMPLETELY objective.

    Regards –BO

     
  35. tilford97 Post author

    Bo-I’ll make this short.

    It’s my blog. From my perspective. A lot of folks that read this blog I’ve probably met. A lot of them are my friends. And being friends, they most likely are going to “be on my side”.

    Like I stated before, I can see where you’re coming from in some respects. But, you come across as somewhat insulting. I don’t care much. But my friends seem to. Insulting them isn’t really going to go far here.

    I know you think that you’re being the only objective voice here. I think you’ve made your point. I am sorry, once again, if I disagree with you. I’m pretty sure there is nothing you can do to persuade me otherwise.

    But, thanks for all the effort. I like banter, even though this might be stretching the definition of that word.

    Steve

     
  36. Hudson Luce

    @BO: “completely objective”? I think not. Perhaps a Blithering Oddball with Body Odor who should Butt Out … there. It’s getting late.

     
  37. Rod Lake

    Bo: I searched my soul as you suggested and came to the conclusion you are a self-absorbed ass.

     
  38. Brian Starr

    Wow, that is one hell of a story and by the looks of it, one hell of a run-in with a car. Best wishes to Kris! As for the cop…uh, well, I just don’t know what to say except that I hope she has a nice day…

     
  39. BO

    Well, I guess you just cannot rationalize with the irrational as many of your followers are proving… If pointing out potential mistakes label me as “insulting”, then so be it, but your followers are the ones unintelligibly attacking me for my opinion; which BTW happens to be by the book.

    What is clear however is your distain for authority, or even scary stuff like police possessing tools such as “guns and cuffs” as to help them do their job, but also keep them, and you safe. I guess these rules should not apply to YOU though and these types of things should NEVER be around you, right? Don’t answer that, I/we already know…

    And as for friends; do you think a better friend would give blind empathy for you regardless of direction or mistakes you have made, or tell you to straighten up when you need it… I’ll take the later, thank you…

    So, I am neither amazed nor surprised to learn that you will not listen to logical discourse. Clearly you never wanted debate; you wanted a support group to comfort you for being wronged by the evil Police and your followers don’t want to hear anything that can taint their opinions of you. You may be a success on a bike, but need to work on this a bit…

    “Birds of a feather flock together”… Something to think about before you embarrass yourself through the advice of these “friends”…

     

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