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| 1 – 90 seconds after impact 2 – Eight minutes after impact 3 – 40 minutes after impact |
At about 9:00p or so, on a recent Thursday evening we were
about to sit down and catch-up on ER.
Yeah, the show now relegated to syndication that helped launched that talented
thespian, George Clooney (who happens to be bigger than ever here in Shanghai).
It is one of the few shows Kris has ever watched. I rarely, if ever watched it, because I was usually preoccupied by work or some such psychotic
endeavor.
Here in Shanghai ER
is easy to watch, simply because the television programming is pretty bad. (If
we watched more than an hour or so a day things would be pretty dire.) Luckily
we do get the major tennis tournament and seasonally, in the fall, my favorite
spectacle, bull fighting! (More on this later.)
We get to see The
Voice, Hawaii 5-0 and the
ubiquitous CSIs if we choose. Frankly,
my interests begin and end narrowly with Mad
Men, which I have to score on iTunes.
Thanks to the wonder of CDs we can relive the glory years of
ER.
So, as I was saying we were about to sit down to another
episode featuring Doug’s indiscretions, when I hear a loud crash. Initially it
sounds like a sound F/X of a gurney busting through the ICU doors on the show.
Within seconds it becomes clear that it was actually a
mishap on the street near our building.
I hurry to the balcony to see what’s up. It’s a collision at
the intersection below. It looks pretty serious as I scan the scene. There’s
a small SUV stopped just past the apex point of a left hand turn and a person
lying on the pavement ten feet or so away. There is also a scooter about 20
feet away. It seems the person on the ground was a deliveryman from a local
service called Sherpa’s (even in the dim light of the intersection I see the
trademark orange and black logo).
Two or three
passersby surround the person on the ground, bending to briefly inspect
him/her. Immediately they were on their cell phones calling for help. I see the
Sherpa move albeit very, very slowly.
After five minutes there is no sign of police or ambulance in the vicinity. I'm expecting Carter and Malucci to come running to the scene with the stolen EMR tool kits in hand.
Our doctor’s advice rings gravely
accurate, “in the case of emergency take a taxi to the western hospital across
the river” it’s your best bet for urgent
care.
Soon the passersby grew to a small crowd of about ten, all
of which were concerned though not assisting. I was surprised to see the SUV
driver still in attendance, or seemingly so, because the vehicle was still
there. In China the law is pretty clear (as I understand it) that if a driver
injures or disables a person in an accident and it is determined to be the
driver’s fault, the injured person is entitled to be supported for life by the
driver at fault. It is a quick process relative to courtroom processes and
litigation in the US.
It is also emphatically advised that if you do see such a
mishap that you do not by any means assist
the victim, as you could be held accountable for any injuries
incurred – even in an effort to help.
However, this system has recently had its setbacks. It seems
that the fine for a driver at fault for killing a person can be less, much less,
than the cost of life-long support for the maimed. This has given rise to the Chinese urban legend (and harsh reality) of guilty drivers killing their victims at the scene. In a horrific case a couple of
years ago, a driver repeatedly backed-up and ran over a four year-old boy who
happened to have been right behind the car. The initial incident was definitely an accident the subsequent actions were intentional and the boy died as a result.
The incident caused an outrage but not enough of one to
prevent the well to do guilty party from paying a fine and walking.
His reasoning was “not to be pestered by peasants.” In this case the driver was executed after a short trial.
Bordering on 8 minutes since impact (cognoscente of
time with an eye on my cell phone clock) and finally I hear a siren. It seems
to be an opportunistic proprietor of a wrecker/tow truck. Now, I'm convinced as the television subtext is exclaiming, "the patient is bleeding out!" The crowd was growing
still larger as some of the concerned seemed to now form a barrier around the
Sherpa (much like water buffaloes protecting their young) while others directed
traffic in a chaotic manner.
Finally, a police cruiser and two motorcycle officers arrive
at the scene.
One officer begins to clear pedestrians and the other walks up to inspect the Sherpa. The officer was careful not to move the victim as he
walked around the extremities. He did seem to be talking with the
victim though.
It's now about 12-15 minutes or so later and the officers are
now talking to witnesses. This process lasts for another 15-20 minutes. All
while the poor Sherpa lies on the pavement virtually motionless. For over a half
an hour, I expect an ambulance any second.
What happens next can only be described as “Gilliam-ly” surreal (as in Brazil).
Incredulously, the officers begin their accident scene investigation.
Apparently, they deduce that the Sherpa, while incapacitated, is not in need.
The two officers pull out a tape measure and begin documenting the scene. The
Sherpa is motionless on the pavement. They measure from the fender of the SUV
to the point at which the Sherpa lies. Then the distance from the SUV to the
point of the crunched motor scooter is recorded. Once the primary measurements
are out of the way an intricate series of geometric measurements ensues. The
distances from the SUV bumper to the light post at the right corner, then to a
more acute traffic light post on the same side. These measurements take another
10 to 15 minutes.
At this point the Sherpa still isn’t moving. He seems resided to
accept his fate.
After the measurements seem to be complete the officer again
approaches the Sherpa in a more compassionate manner, he kneels to speak with
him. Simultaneously, a siren is
wailing in the distance, soon the crowd clears enough to allow an ambulance to
enter the vicinity.
Two medics attend to the Sherpa for about 10 minutes and
finally with the help of the officer get him onto a stretcher and into the back
of the ambulance. It takes another five minutes before the ambulance leaves the
scene.
Once the ambulance is gone the wrecker is allowed to move
the SUV and the motor scooter is hoisted to a small flatbed, both are ferried
away.
Traffic is back to normal in a few minutes and the Sherpa (fate
unknown to this observer) is a commemorated by a few chalk stripes on the
pavement.
I am reminded of a very short and bizarre conversation
I had with a young woman a few days earlier as we crossed an intersection a few
blocks north of the accident site. Stepping of off a curb simultaneously we
were “flown-bye” by a taxi. He was well in control of his cab and yet too close for
comfort as he came within a foot of the two of us. This is common and generally happens two to three times at any intersection crossing as drivers make left hand turns not one at a time, but in loose formations of up to six vehicles at a time, depending on the window in oncoming traffic. Understand that while the crossing light may say cross, it in no way implies pedestrians have right of way.
All drivers commonly assume this game of rock, paper,
scissors is succinctly understood by pedestrians – buses crush cars and
taxis, cars and taxis take-out pedestrians and pedestrian can only stop tanks.
We
both
continued to cross and I sarcastically narrated aloud thinking no one
was listening "they aren’t even that good in New
York City." My amused comrade said, “This is Shanghai – they’re crazy.”
I wondered if that was really true, after all, even craziness values life.
They wouldn't depict so many crazy people in ER if that weren't true would they?
© 2012 Karl Shaffer
