The sign reads: “Dial 999 for coast guard, police, fire, or ambulance”The term “the bystander effect” was coined after Kitty Genovese, a young New Yorker, was brutally stabbed to death over the course of a half an hour while many bystanders (the original count in 1964 was set at 38 although later police determined it to be closer to 12) watched and heard the carnage and did nothing to stop it. The police were not called until Kitty had been raped, robbed and murdered. Once called, they were at the scene within two minutes. The implications of this are staggering, sobering and a bit sickening. I will not judge any of the witnesses to the crime as there are many factors involved but I do consider it one of the great travesties of our time that this could have occurred in our civilized society. This story only bears repeating because of the important lesson it teaches.
I was reminded of this one day in the gym as I saw a man out of the corner of my eye struggling to squat a very heavily loaded bar. I barely had time to wonder if he was going to drop it on himself when the query became a certainty. The bar veered wildly from side to side as he staggered underneath it. He was crouched so far forward in his squat that dropping it on the floor behind him was not possible. I cringe remembering what happened next. He went down forward on his knees, the bar with at least several hundred pounds on it sliding down his neck, and over his head before crashing on the floor in front of him. He could have easily broken or otherwise injured his back or neck but he was fortunate and stood up, shaking it off and, I think, shaking a bit from nerves as well.
Here’s the sad part: In addition to myself there were at least 6 other people on the weight floor and not one of us moved a muscle to help him. When it was all said and done, several of us rushed over to see if he was okay but we all watched him go down. It was not a fast fall. Even though I certainly could not lift the kind of weight he was handling, I could have at least helped stabilize the bar enough to help him not roll it over his neck. With the aid of another person, I’m quite sure we could have prevented it from falling on him at all. I went home with my faith in myself badly shaken.
It wasn’t long before I had a chance to revisit my demons. On the way out of the gym some time later, a handicapped woman woman walking behind me slipped and fell on the ice. It was one of those dramatic falls that ends with arms akimbo and legs in wrong positions and lots of screaming. I hesitated. I was holding my baby in my arms with the other two children clinging to my legs. It was snowing and bitterly cold. There were several other people walking out at the same time. I was tempted. But I didn’t want to be The Bystander again. Commanding my two ambulatory children to stay put, I ran back to her and offered her the hand not holding my baby. “Don’t touch me!” she screamed. “You hurt me! You hurt me!!”
“It’s okay,” I tried to soothe her. She would not be soothed. I yelled at another woman walking out to run back inside and get help. Then, as she was far too big for me to lift (especially with a baby on my hip), I knelt down in the snow next to her and patted her arm. “We’re going to get you help. You’re going to be okay.” I stayed with her until help came. I don’t honestly know if I did much for calming her – she screamed non stop the entire time, scaring my kids witless – but I do know that on the car ride home I got to explain to my children how important it is to not be a bystander.
Since then it has become a running joke in my household as to the number of times I have called 911. Afraid to be caught up in “the bystander effect” – meaning that in a group of multiple witnesses to a crime, each person assumes that someone else is taking care of the situation – I have called emergency personnel for a fight I saw break out in a liquor store parking lot, a bike vs. car crash, a lost child (not mine, thank heavens), a bike vs. road crash, a menacing dog in a crowded park, a bike vs. tree crash, and an electrical fire during a thunderstorm among other things. (Although the best emergency call I have ever made was in college when my roommate had an accident lighting a propane barbecue. A gigantic ball of flame rolled up her body. As I wrapped my arms around her to… help her? put out the fire? hug her?… and tried to reassure her that all the singed hair falling off of her over my arms was not actually her singed hair falling off, my gut instinct was to call for help. I called my parents. Who lived miles away. Brilliant. Thankfully other than some minor burns and the hair she was all right, my idiocy not withstanding.)
But it isn’t just life or death situations in which the bystander effect occurs. Not every situation is so drastic as to warrant a 911 call. What would you do if you saw these models biting it? Would you offer a hand?
Or what if someone fell next to you in step class? (This happened to me once – we both started laughing so hard when she ate it that I ended up on the floor with her, trying not to pee my pants. I’m sure the teacher loved us.) Would you offer to help a newbie in a Body Pump class, like Gym Buddy Krista does on a regular basis, when they are obviously intimidated by the amount of equipment it requires? Do you offer a spot on the weight floor when someone needs one but is too proud to ask? Do you say hi and smile first?
Ask anyone today about the Kitty Genovese story and almost all will reply that they, certainly, would have helped. At least they would have called the police. And I hope that’s true. Obviously there have been no controlled studies done replicating this situation to find out if we would actually do what we say we would. But research done after the fact has shown that there is one significant factor in influencing whether or not people get caught up in the bystander effect. It’s education. Once you know about the effect and the problems stemming from it, you are considerably less likely to be caught up in its inertia.
Consider yourselves taught.
Now – you teach me: Have you ever been caught in the bystander effect? Have you ever reached out to a stranger? Has a stranger ever helped you? Have you ever walked down a slick catwalk in 9-inch platform heels in a dress held together with boob tape and a prayer?
*Note: For all of you on my e-mail list, feedburner had a weird seizure today and sent a phantom post earlier this evening. It was the Heinous Veinous one. I have no idea how or why this happened. My apologies to all who got it and thought I’d lost my mind.
I think sometimes we think someone else will come to the rescue. Or that we aren’t good enough, strong enough, etc. to come to the rescue. Or that we’ve mistaken the situation. That we’ll look like a fool.
These days, I try to ask myself instead, “How will I feel when I have to tell the police/EMT’s/family/news crew that I saw something and did nothing?”
Bystander effect also comes into play when we have a suspicion about someone who might hurt us or others.
A few years ago, I saw a man cross the street near my house with a little girl who was on a bike. He looked over his shoulder as he crossed the street, but I noticed that he kept looking over his shoulder even after the two of them were safely on the sidewalk. The odd behavior was compounded by the fact that the man was white but the little girl was black.
I was worried that he might be some sort of child predator, or that it might be a racially motivated kidnapping. Then I scolded myself for thinking that something must be wrong because of the mixed races. And she didn’t seem upset as she rode along beside him. Would I seem intrusive if I said anything? Overly paranoid? Racist?
After my imagination started thinking about that child’s body potentially being found molested and mutilated, I started thinking about having to explain that something was suspicious but I didn’t say anything. I decided that would be worse than any discomfort I experienced from being thought racist or nosy. I decided I couldn’t live with myself if the family lost their little girl because I played Bystander. And she was a little younger than my niece…what if someone took my niece and everyone played bystander?
After knocking on the door and talking to the mom, I found out it was ok, the guy was a friend. The mom thanked me for checking in, acknowledging that too many people wouldn’t have done so. Still, I felt guilty, like I was a bad person for having those suspicions. But I am glad I said something. And I hope to keep asking myself, “What if I had to tell someone I did nothing?” anytime I am tempted to be a bystander.
I’ve totally busted on sidewalks while running amidst morning rush hour traffic, and only been offered help once. I think it’s different though when people are driving by in their cars…much harder to stop and offer help without causing an accident…at least that is what I told myself as I limped with torn running tights dripping blood. This has happened three times. Oops.
I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever witnesses anyone get seriously hurt. I really hope I would stop and help as I’ve often wished people would have offered to help me. I’m a bit accident prone. 🙂
What a coincidence that you would write about this when I was thinking about the same thing today. I was in my car and got stuck in the snow. I’ve never really had this happen to me before because I grew up in Utah and I know how to drive in snow, but it couldn’t be avoided. Instead of people pulling over to help dig me out, they drove by pushing more snow into my path, so I couldn’t move. Nice. After 15 minutes of panic and listening to my three-year-old whine about wanting to go home, the snowplow drove by and cleared a path for me. Not until after he honked at me to get out of his way. Did he not see my hazard lights? Seriously! Just a few days ago there was a car stuck on the road in front of my house. My dad and I went out and helped them get their car out. I’m so glad you refuse to be a bystander. I do too!
I hear what you’re saying. I saw a truck ZOOM into the ditch along the interstate a few years ago on a snowy day. I didn’t know what to do, and I just kept driving. I felt horrible, and now I stop all the time. I’ve stopped to help change tires, and I’ve stopped when cars are in the ditch just to run up and make sure everyone is OK. Thankfully, everyone has always been OK. But I think it takes one or 2 times of NOT doing something because you’re in shock to make you think about what you would do next time. THEN you’re ready.
Nice post! Great perspective!
Helping others comes with the job! Or more likely, people who want to help others go into these areas.
Folks sure have helped me through the years!
Although, not always 🙁
I cant believe the other models didn’t help the falling model out! I noticed that the ones who DID try to save the model were men. Way to go dudes!
I’ve always had a rule for myself that I’ve abided by pretty consistently. The rule is: SOMEONE has to help. It doesn’t have to me. In fact, in many instances, I prefer it’s not. But if nobody steps in, then it’s got to be me. I have stood up for some very uncomfortable injustices this way.
And yet, a few weeks ago, I completely surprised myself. My friend Sarah and I were having a falafel at one of those Middle Eastern shacks, when a guy came in and started hurling all sorts of racial insults. I was completely torn about what to do. None of the bystanders was saying anything. And all I could think was: I hope I’m not caught in an episode of MSNBC’s “What Would You Do?” and I’ll end up looking really bad because I’m doing NOTHING!
The “racist” eventually ended up leaving the premises without it getting physical. And I’m still not sure what I should have done? Ideally I’d like to be the person who can speak up in a friendly, calm and confident way – you know, like those people who can break tension with a light-hearted approach – but the truth of the matter is, I’m rarely that person, and certainly was not at that moment. It’s plagued me though that I did nothing. And I’m not sure how to resolve it.
I’m that person who tends to volunteer first, however, if something feels “off” about the situation, I will accept feeling guilty.
For example, while I was waiting for my car to warm up, someone knocked on the hood, and asked me to help her back out of her spot, as she was a new driver.
She kept looking away from me, and as it was dark, and she said I didn’t even have to turn my car off, because it wouldn’t take long. I said that I really couldn’t help her (I’m little, her car was a Hummer, and she wanted me to stand behind it and use gestures to let her know if she had space to keep backing up or not).
I watched the girl back out as far as possible (in a straight line) then go back into the space a couple of times, then turn off the car like she was going to get out and ask me for help again.
I drove away. Something felt “wrong”. The next day, I helped someone jump start his car.
Wow, this opens a wound that is over 30+ years old. When I was around 18 to 20 I was out with my parents and my father’s sisters (both nuns) to a restaurant in Florida. We were having a diner in a nice restaurant when there was a commotion at the table behind me. There was an older man at a table of around six or seven individuals that was grasping his throat and turning blue. The rest of his table were on their feet around the man and yelling and hitting him in the back. It did nothing and the man rolled to the floor and stopped breathing. The paramedics were called in and arrived very quickly and tried to do CPR. They worked on him for over 40 minutes with no response and in the end he died. There was many things about that night that comes back from time to time that still bothers me today. 1) That I did nothing. I guess I felt I should have pushed pass the people around him and did the Heimlich maneuver in order to expel the food that got caught. I just sat there shocked at what went on and felt useless. 2) There were other patrons of this restaurant that were near the table while the paramedics did their job and complained to the Maitre d’ that they needed to be moved since this was ruining their diner. The business of trying to keep people alive can be messy at times and I thought their loud insistence was appalling. I guess death and steaks don’t go together well. 3) That I never become a bystander again. That lesson has taught me to take CPR classes and renew them each year.
This is without a doubt one of the most worthless feelings one can have when you don’t do a thing for another human being that’s in peril.
While I’m generally a shy person, I’m more likely to risk making an ass of myself by being too helpful than risk not helping someone in need. Of course if there are tons of people around already being as helpful as possible, I’ll back off. But if there’s any question, I’ll usually err on the side of caution. I’m sure I’ve called 911 more than the national average.
I think most people who hesitate, though, do so out of uncertainty rather than callousness.
I go back and forth on this issue. While I am the first to get the door for someone with their hands full, or trying to maneuver a stroller through or whatever, I am a lot more wary about stoping to help along the road or whatever, just because I am scared. Too many people dissappear from stoping to help. Then again I grew up in the era (and area) that Ted Bundy worked in, so it was pounded into my head not to trust that people that need help really need it. (Bundy used to wear a fake cast to get women to “help” him.) When I am with someone else, I am much more likely to try and help.
My co-worker and I were talking about this the other day, and he mentioned that his wife got really angry with him once a long time ago for stopping to help a woman alone because that left him open to false sexual assault charges… something I never thought about. He says now he will pull over and offer to call someone for them, but won’t get out of his car or let them into his.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the thought of helping someone carries so much personal risk. But it just does. It is safer to call 911 in a lot of cases.
I have so many stories about this topic that I think I would overrun the comments. Two that immediately came to mind were when I was a kid riding my bike and hit a sidwalk square at just the right angle to totally wipe out and land on the sidwalk, bleeding, with my bike on top of me…IN AN ANT PILE. I couldn’t get up and I was right in front of the little grocerey store and not one person came to help me except a woman that might have been in her 80s. She came and pulled the bike off me and I am so thankful to her. I walked my bike home and my family freaked out when they saw the blood running down my legs and the ant bites (which I react to pretty badly).
As an adult my husband and I were driving somewhere (dinner I think?) and saw a man, who looked like a methhead and proceeded to act like one) pull a uturn in his truck OVER a median in order to get behind this lady at a red light. He got out of his truck in traffic and started trying to kick her windows in and was just going nuts, it was terrifying. We called the police immediately and I really hope they got him, we gave the license number, location, description, etc.
I see things in the gym that I know my potentially hurt someone some day and yet I feel like I can’t say anything as I don’t want to offend the people or come across like I know everything. I also hesitate to call the police when I feel scared about someone coming to the door, etc in our neighborhood. I think it comes back to self image and not wanting to be a bother.
I do not have positive experiences with calling 911 so I admit that I don’t usually do it. The few times I’ve called it to report an accident I’ve been told they already know about it (good!) and the one time I called for the car accident I was in, the dispatcher was less than helpful. The interesting thing is that I’ve worked as an assistant police dispatcher and am aware of what types of calls they get and how to handle them.
I do not have positive experiences with calling 911 so I admit that I don’t usually do it. The few times I’ve called it to report an accident I’ve been told they already know about it (good!) and the one time I called for the car accident I was in, the dispatcher was less than helpful. The interesting thing is that I’ve worked as an assistant police dispatcher and am aware of what types of calls they get and how to handle them.
I do not have positive experiences with calling 911 so I admit that I don’t usually do it. The few times I’ve called it to report an accident I’ve been told they already know about it (good!) and the one time I called for the car accident I was in, the dispatcher was less than helpful. The interesting thing is that I’ve worked as an assistant police dispatcher and am aware of what types of calls they get and how to handle them.
A few years ago I wasn’t the type of person who would do anything to help. My thinking was that someone else more capable would be around to help.
In high school I learned about the Kitty case, and ever since then I’ve really done my best to actively try NOT to be a bystander. I’ve offered help to cops when they were chasing these kids around (they’d lost track of the kids but I saw which way they’d gone), asked several crying strangers what was wrong, and other things like that. Sometimes I still don’t make a move- but it’s pretty rare now that I’m more aware of how strong that bystander effect can be.
I always feel that way – like someone else is more capable or better suited to help than I. I need to stop that. My fiance (who used to be an EMT) is usually the first one to help (calling 911, helping someone that fell, etc). Its something I should be better at…
Although I’ve hesitated, I always help otherwise my guilt is pretty intense.
But there was one time (and I’ve been dithering about writing this, but here goes) I was walking home from work across this big park that’s in the middle of the city when I heard a man start calling for help around the corner of the path I was on. The yelling man was next to his friend who was face down on the paved path bleeding heavily. Both men looked homeless, and the conscious man was very drunk, but apparently his friend had just collapsed face first.
I had forgotten my cell phone and had to ask about 4 or 5 people before one person stopped to call 911. In the meantime I did a first assessment (I’m trained in First Aid, CPR, and used to be a lifeguard), couldn’t find any indications of back/neck trauma, which was fortunate because the man was drowning in his own blood and needed to be turned over. I took the chance and put him in a semi-prone position (on his side), checked pulse and breathing, noted both were erratic. The guy who’s called 911 said that they thought they’d be close to 15 minutes because of traffic.
About 5 or 10 minutes later the man’s breathing stopped. And here’s what I’ve thought about regularly for the 4years since; I didn’t administer AR (artificial respiration). His face was a nightmare of blood and damage, and his nose appeared completely flat and pulpy. I didn’t have my mouth-to-mouth mask with me, so I would have to seal his mouth with mine and somehow cover what was left of his nose to do AR. And I didn’t. I sat on the ground with my fingers on his pulse and praying for the ambulance. And then he died.
The ambulance and the police came about 2 minutes after his pulse stopped. I was reassured several times that I’d made the right choice for my own safety, especially when we found out his friend said that they were both living a half-way house for drug abuse. I was told again and again by the authorities that his heart was likely going to fail no matter what I’d done due to the substance abuse.
But I let him die. And I still think about it a lot, and have only shared this with a could of people in my life because I am so ashamed.
How funny that you should post this today. I spent yesterday getting my recertification for CPR, and this was one of the things we talked about in the beginning of class. That impulse to stand by and do nothing comes from a lot of different places, I think. Sometimes people really just think others will help, but a lot of time the observer is in shock, doesn’t know what to do, or (quite commonly and unfortunately) is afrad that if they help they’ll open themselves to a lawsuit.
I used to be so paralyzed by the fear of doing something wrong or offending someone that I didn’t stop and help very often. Now that I feel more capable, I almost always stop, unless, as some others have mentioned, something feels “off” about the situation. In that case, I’ll call 911 if necessary, but I won’t go with someone/get out of my car/whatever.
And I wanted to add: Loey, you really did do the right thing. I can’t imagine the kind of guilt you must have felt (because I would definitely have felt it, too), but YOU DID THE RIGHT THING. You probably already know that intellectually, but I just thought I’d re-state it.
*hugs* to you.
My mom is a shining example of not bystanding. She helps old ladies get their groceries into the car, she is always looking for people that need a helping hand in every situation. I try, but too often I’m just not looking around, trying hard to keep myself from falling down with kids, groceries, and what not. But I hope I will improve in this area.
First of all, I just have to say that after watching that video I FINALLY understand why runway models looked so PO’d all the time! (And that fella who said “That’s the price they pay for being high-priced supermodels.” well, I think the anorexia, constant criticism, and the fact that their careers are over by the time their 25 are high enough prices.)
As for helping a stranger, I’ve taken action and I’ve done nothing. And there were a couple of times when total strangers helped me. The times that I’ve done nothing are the times I felt paralyzed by fear. Like you, I felt horrible after the fact, and resolved to do SOMETHING, even if it’s just calling 911. (Then, of course, there are the times when the person I thought I was helping screamed at me to mind my own business, lol!)
Then, of course, there are instances like Tricia mentions, where by helping someone you risk putting yourself in danger. There are predators who pose as people in distress for that very purpose.
I have found myself on both sides of this issue…and apologize in advance for the long post…
Years ago, I used to commute into Boston for work, taking the train 55 minutes from my home south of the city. When I was in my last trimester of my first pregnancy, I got a nosebleed one day on the train, during the rush hour. I was standing, since there were no seats left, and without a handkerchief or a tissue handy, I had to hold myself up while wiping a steady stream of blood from my nose onto my sleeve for a good 10-15 minutes. Finally, a female conductor saw me and yelled at the nearest passenger to get up and offer me his seat. Then, she somehow found me some tissues. Thankfully, I didn’t lose consciousness or fall, but that was a scary moment for me on a train full of people who took such pains to avoid eye contact with someone obviously distressed.
The other instance, which happened to me very recently, is when I found myself acting like those people did to me that day on the train – a moment I regret. Again, commuting home from work, this time in my car, I was driving along the busy main road that leads to my street when I saw a car broken down. Further up, at the top of my street, walked a woman, obviously out of place in her black leather high heel boots and purse – tucking her face into the New England weather. I realized a few moments after I’d driven past her that she was a woman I knew from the neighborhood, one who was a chronic liar and gossip-er who, years ago, had caused problems with my family by spreading false rumors and causing unneccesary grief for all of us. The kind of woman who wouldn’t have a friend or neighbor to call for a ride if she broke down on the side of the road.
In that instant, I decided to keep driving, even though I knew it was cold out, even though I knew it would take her a good 30 minutes to walk to her house 4 streets away in those heels, even though I knew it would be dark before she got to her front door.
I regretted it later, as I sat at home wondering if she’d found a ride, if she’d gotten home before dark, if she’d gotten hit by a bus because of my ignoring her. I was relieved to see, a few days later, that she was indeed alive and well, behind the wheel of her car again no thanks to me.
It was a sobering moment to realize that I behaved just like those people on the train did with me…pretending not to see, ignoring when someone needed a hand. Thinking, let them deal with their own problem themselves.
Feeling that awful is not worth it; it’s so much easier to be nice and do the right thing. I am still learning.
Loey,
I just had to comment again after I read your story – My fiance is a cardiovascular tech at a hospital and he just went through CPR certification again, and now? They don’t even train rescue breathing unless you have a respirator because the amount of oxegyn that actually get into the person’s lungs is so small, it is almost pointless. And, to top it off the number one rule of helping someone else is to not put yourself in danger.
YOU DID THE RIGHT THING. 🙂
Chiming in again, for Loey: I took CPR last year and they said NEVER place your mouth directly over the victim’s if there is blood or bodily fluids. The risk of contraction Hepatitis or another disease is too great.
Sassy’s right: you did the right thing!
(Also, I believe you’re only supposed to administer AR if they’re not breathing at all on their own, but I could be wrong.)
You did NOT let him die!!!! You did everything you could, and it was a whole lot more than most would have done!
You are an amazing person!!!!!
Thank you to everyone who offered reassurance. As Marste said, I have accepted that I made the right choice intellectually.
However, the surge of emotion I feel when I think about it can leave me breathless.
I moved to the city on my own at 17 for college and didn’t have any experience in a big city before, so everything was new and exciting and would’ve been scarier if not for a stranger.
I was walking down a narrow street when a raving, angry rough-looking/homeless man ran straight at me. A business man in suit, eating his lunch at an outdoor cafe leaped up from his meal and restrained the guy before he reached me. I babbled a lot of thank yous… the amount of kindness in strangers is surprising at times.
When I was in the 8th grade, a couple in Washington state put on a scam (or it was at least an urban legend everyone firmly believed and circulated) where they pretended to be injured on the side of the road and robbed people who stopped to help them. Then a family who attended our church was in a car accident on the highway rumored to host the scam. The mom’s ear had been severed and she was trying to get someone to stop for over 30 minutes to help. Two of her children were already dead and a friend’s child was critically injured in the car. No one would stop. Both the scam and the church friends affect how good of a Samaritan I am. I’ll be honest. I am quite prejudice in who I help and how. If there is a man standing along side the road with a broken car, I will slow down with the doors locked and mouth to him that I am calling 911 in his behalf. If it is a woman with children, I will stop the car and get out. I gave a ride to a 65 year old woman who’s car had broken down because I was sure she couldn’t overpower me. When men approach me with a “will work for food” sign, I generally ignore them if I am alone or alone with my kids. If my husband is with me or it is a woman with the sign, I will go out of my way to get them something to eat. If I had been on that NYC street alone with my four children and seen Kitty, I think I would have called 911, but I know I would have been too much of a coward to stop the situation myself.
I’m always surprised by my reaction. Every time I’ve been witness to an emergency situation I’ve snapped to and did whatever I could, from calling 911 to holding up an unconscious man’s body so he wouldn’t tumble further down the stairs and holding napkins against a bleeding head wound. I’m not a leader normally but I’ve found that I’m quick to give direction.. its not clear headedness though, oddly I feel less so, just ‘in the zone’
(very old article, but I felt like commenting, regardless!)
In the gym, I'm not the type to go to classes, so I've never really helped anyone out… I've asked for help (in a foreign language, no less!) but never found myself in a position to give it.
Outside the gym, I always make an effort not to be a bystander. I've phoned the police only twice (once after walking past someone kicking a front door in, then running round back when they saw me – I thought it was a robber, turned out to be the owner's kid! Oops… The other time was a domestic disturbance which did end up being very serious, so I'm not the boy who cried wolf) but I'm the first person to give an elderly person help with bags on bridges or stairs, even if it means I'm late for something or miss my train. Same if someone falls over, I'd feel awful just walking past or ignoring it.
During a bar fight I witnessed a year ago, one of the guys was pushed down a flight of stairs and landed on his head, on a concrete sidewalk. He was unconscious from the fall. My friend jumped in and dialed 911 while I checked to make sure he was breathing and had a pulse (luckily he did!). I gathered information from those who seemed to know him while monitoring him, relaying information to my friend on the phone. We stayed there, keeping the drunks away as much as we could until emergency services arrived.
Two days after the incident, my friend called the bar where it happened (the man worked there, but it was his off night) to see if he was alright. We were informed he was fine other than a headache! My friend and I felt fortunate that we jumped into action, all because we'd both taken CPR a few months earlier!
It amazed me that everyone else just stood there staring at him and blowing cigarette smoke in his face. Most wouldn't call 911 because they were drunk and scared they would get caught with a DUI when they left. Sad.
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