useless samaritan

[kip_w]

.
I was coming back in from somewhere, and saw a woman sitting on the porch of a house for sale on Stuyvesant. Some weeks back, I had picked up a painting being given away from there (in a pile of stuff by the curb with a sign on it), and thought I would like to know something about the artist while there was still someone to ask. I stopped in my house long enough to take a phone picture and rode my bike over there.

She wasn't on the porch, so I rang the bell. I was answered by a vague voice from inside that I couldn't quite make out. I awkwardly tried to explain what I was doing there, finally opening the screen door to hear her better. That's when I saw that she was lying on the floor. I went right in.

She had fallen, of course. It couldn't have been long ago, because I'd seen her on the porch. She asked me who I was and I told her. I asked how she was, but she didn't quite know. She was bleeding a tiny bit from her lip and asked for some tissue, which I brought. I asked if she'd like help getting up, and she declined (each time I asked). She asked who I was again. We conversed briefly about the picture, which she didn't remember anything about.

I looked at the counter, at items of mail and so forth, looking for clues as to who I could call. I asked if I could bring her anything -- a small chair to help her pull herself up, if she didn't want me to help her up. She asked for a little stool that didn't look useful to me at all, but I brought it. I also brought her her phone and the card file with all her numbers. She didn't want a drink of water, either. We kept talking. She would ask me my name and I'd tell her, and she'd ask which street I lived on, and I'd tell her.

She seemed to want me to leave, so I finally did. I have to be here to get Sarah from the bus. I picked up a card from the realtor who's selling the house and called and left a message on his cell phone. I'll call again and leave one at his office. After I get Sarah, I might go by there again to see if she's up yet. Maybe I should knock on the door at her neighbors' houses to see if someone there knows her.

I feel like I haven't done enough. It was lucky that I could be there so soon after she fell, but now what?

Update - Things are better now. Thanks again for suggestions in comments. More details are in my comment in the thread.
.

Comments

[carbonel]

From your description, it sounds as if she might have had a stroke, in which case time is of the essence. Unless that's her baseline, of course.

Sorry to put that on you, but I think it might be worth calling the paramedics if she's still acting disoriented.

[sarah-ovenall.livejournal.com]

if you think she might be really hurt, you could call 911. Otherwise, talking to the neighbors might be a good idea. She might be more willing to accept help from someone she knows.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I think in a case like that calling 911 and telling them that the woman has fallen and seems disoriented is not a crazy thing to do. Better safe than sorry.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion! (You were all fairly unanimous there.) Sarah and I just went back to check and found her son there. She had called him. He's taking care of her now, and she's doing all right. She was, of course, embarrassed that I should be there to see her when she was in such a position. She seems to have a loose tooth and maybe a small hurt on her face (there's how observant I am; I didn't see it) but is otherwise all right for someone whose husband passed on just over a month ago.

Her son also gave me info on the artist. He's working as a professional in Pittsburgh now, with his own studio. I plan to write his name and other info on the back of the board the picture's on, for future reference.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Good to hear it worked out without calling in the paramedics. And you got the name of the artist. Talk about win.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Eyes on the prize! I finally got around to writing the info on the picture matte. If he did that in high school, as his brother seemed to recall, he must be doing great stuff now. I'll see if he's on the web.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Very glad to hear that she had family with her, and was somewhat better, soon.

Falls can be very bad in and of themselves, but can also be symptoms of other things (stroke, heart attack, seizure, ...). Fall plus disorientation and direct physical signs of head injury are pretty serious.

And calling 911 for a person who's conscious is a fairly big decision to take away from them, I'd be slow to jump to it as well.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

...calling 911 for a person who's conscious is a fairly big decision to take away from them...

I've done it. Situation: young woman reported on the floor of the women's bathroom where I work. When I went to check on her, she was curled up in fetal ball on the tile floor of the foyer to the bathroom. She complained of bad cramp, but seemed disoriented and unresponsive and had to be assisted to stand and move to a better place to lie down. I told her I was calling 9-1-1 and she didn't argue, and so I did.

Especially in a case where someone is minimally responsive or seems less than coherent, and is not actively refusing aid, and you just don't have the medical history to know what kind of medical emergency may be ongoing, I think it's better to get in someone who's professionally trained in to assess the situation. A lot more people die of delayed medical aid than die of embarrassment.

(For instance, the typical delay in calling the paramedics for heart attack is apparently measured in hours due to victims and their families waffling about not wanting to make a fuss if it isn't a heart attack. This is life-threatening delay. Time to balloon can be crucial to saving heart muscle.)

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. And if you can get them to not-disagree, it's a lot easier.

If they're clearly disoriented or confused, I'd think I should do it (and might actually do it).

Heart attack times are long partly because they sometimes present in non-standard ways, especially in women (which is to say the "standard ways" appear to be rather sex-biased).

It's not just embarrassment at stake, it can be money, too, depending on how things are done in your community I guess.

[sarah-ovenall.livejournal.com]

I'm glad she has her son with her and sounds like she's going to be all right.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I was working the carnival at Sarah's school yesterday, and Emily's mom said she'd seen me talking to her neighbor, so I told her the story. I didn't think of it at the time (small wonder), but they live around the corner from her, and their places are adjacent. She says they check on her from time to time, and Emily goes over there, and now she says they will check more often. So there's yet another good outcome from this.

[meggins.livejournal.com]

I don't think you were useless at all. You brought her the phone, and she clearly used it after you left.

Assessing the health of a complete stranger and trying to figure out the best course of action is a pretty daunting proposition.