The Monday morning rush hour is no joke. You’re crowded by hordes of grumpy workers, all the while battling the Monday blues and trying to bring your brain up to speed that it’s no longer the weekend.
To make things worse, at least for one young lady, her leg apparently got caught between the train and the platform this morning around 8:45am at Buona Vista station on the Circle Line. It is believed that she was pushed, and upon falling, her right leg from the knee down was stuck in the platform gap.
It was an incident made public by one netizen, who revealed the details not to make sensational news, but to call for better action on the part of first aid and emergency responders. On his Facebook post, which was uploaded today and quickly went viral, he explained the situation and followed it up with his thoughts on how it could’ve been improved.
Admitting that he was not a certified first responder, he attempted to calm the woman down and helped to eventually lift her leg out of the gap together with the SMRT service staff. However, he observed that some passengers on the train were merely standing around snapping photos and videos of what happened. It was only after he shouted “press the emergency button!” for the third time that someone actually listened and activated it.
“Those precious seconds could have determined life or death,” he said. “Don’t make ‘tsk’ noises to voice your displeasure at the situation. You’re going to be 10 mins late to work? Big deal. Think about it, a woman could have lost her life.”
Even people on the platform were staring at the scene without moving a muscle, he noted, explaining that they could’ve made way for anyone coming in to assist the victim.
“Had all of us at the scene been more considerate and prepared, the lady would have been put more at ease and felt more secure,” he pointed out.
The netizen also called for better first aid training for SMRT, stating that the first staff member arrived on the scene 45 seconds after the fall, and the second one more than a minute later. Calling for an ambulance wasn’t suggested until more than 10 minutes in. Apparently, one staff member was anxious and raised his voice at the woman, yelling at her to move her leg, even though it was painful for her and she was panicking.
“There has to be more situational awareness,” he explained, saying that he had to hold her hand and describe the situation to her before she calmed down and the extraction process became easier. Eventually, a medical student who happened to be at the station came forward 11 minutes later and treated her with professionalism.
In short, the man urged commuters to assist those in need of emergency help in situations like these, and lauded SMRT for its helpful staff, who meant well but perhaps could’ve used a refresher on first aid. Fellow netizens praised him for his kind actions in helping free the trapped woman, though there were the usual trolls who made it political and squeezed in negative comments.
Read the full post below.
