What should you do, if a victim of an accident regains consciousness and wants to go home after a few minutes?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
B. I should encourage the victim to stay, watch the victim carefully and call medical help.
Explanation
In the photo, there is a wrecked white estate car after a heavy impact to the rear and side. If an accident victim regains consciousness after a few minutes and wants to go home, you persuade them to stay, watch them closely and call for medical help - answer B.
The Road Traffic Act requires a person involved in an accident to give the necessary help to the victims and to call the emergency medical team. Loss of consciousness, even for a few minutes, points to a possible brain injury - concussion or bleeding inside the skull, which can grow over hours while the casualty already feels "fine". In addition, after an accident the body is full of adrenaline, so a person does not feel pain from broken ribs or a bleeding spleen. That is why you do not let them leave (answer C); instead you sit them down or lay them down, talk to them, watch their breathing, awareness and any changes in behaviour, and wait for the ambulance, whose crew will assess them professionally. You do not give them anything to drink or any medicines (answer A): an operation under anaesthetic may be needed, and medicines hide symptoms and make diagnosis harder. If they leave despite your persuasion, you inform the dispatcher and the police.
Legal basis: Art. 44 para. 2 point 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym); Art. 162 § 1 of the Criminal Code