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This may turn out to be long, but I feel the need to share. Bear with me.
A few weeks ago, as I was getting ready for work, my Guard Pug alerted me to the presence of an Unauthorized Intruder in our parking lot. I glanced up and saw a woman walking through the lot. Many pedestrians (non-residents) cut through our condo property to get to the walking trail behind it. No one who lives in the complex minds at all (with the exception of my dogs).
I told Guard Pug to chill out and was about to turn away when I saw the woman step on a patch of ice. I knew before she even hit the ground that it was going to be bad. She was an older lady, probably in her late 60's, and the way she was walking had suggested that she wasn't as quick and nimble as she used to be.
Sure enough, she wasn't able to get her hands out underneath her body before she hit the ground. Both of her feet flew up in front of her and the impact was absorbed by the back of her head. Her head literally bounced off the pavement.
Now she was flat on her back and not moving.
I threw on my shoes and coat and grabbed my phone. She was still unconscious when I got to her. There was a pool of blood gathering, and I felt a surge of panic, but I heard my husband's voice in my head saying something he had told me years ago (he's a former lifeguard): "Scalp wounds bleed like buggers. They always look worse than they are."
Nonetheless, the lady was unconscious, so I called 911. As I'm giving the operator the location and a description of the incident, the woman started coming around. She actually sat up, much to my relief.
Unfortunately, she wasn't making any sense. The operator wanted to know her name, age, medications...and she wasn't able to answer any of these questions. She just kept saying, "I'[m not supposed to be here. I need to go home now."
The operator asked me to apply pressure to the wound. I took one look at the back of this woman's head and said, "I have no idea where the wound is." There was so much blood. A neighbour had at this point arrived on scene with a bath towel, and I pressed it against the woman's head.
The EMTs arrived quickly, at least. I stood around for a minute, realized how useless I was, and headed in the direction of work.
The neighbour who provided the towel walked with me for a moment, and announced her intention to notify the superintendent about the ice issue. She was blazing mad. I eventually got mad too, but at the time I was too shaken to think about it.
Fast forward to yesterday: I've spent the last several weeks thinking about this lady and praying that she was okay. I was probably obsessing over the accident a bit much. As I told my sister, "It's not right. It's just not right that this woman could wake up one morning thinking, 'What a lovely day for a walk' and then end up being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. All because of one misstep on a stupid patch of ice."
So that was the frame of mind I was in when a man knocked on my door yesterday. I hesitated to open the door at first, because he was wearing business-casual attire and carrying a clipboard. That just screams salesman.
But Guard Pug was flipping the hell out, so I went to the door to tell Sales Guy to go away.
Turns out he was an insurance investigator, representing our property management company. You know, the company that is hired to keep the frickin' ice out of our frickin' parking lots.
He knew nothing about the condition of the woman who slipped, which disappointed me. What I wanted to hear was "Oh, yes. She came around in the ambulance, got stitched up and was sent home immediately."
But he had no news on that front. There has been no contact between this woman or her family and the property management office. He was simply doing a preliminary investigation, having been given the head's up by our superintendent.
Insurance guy started off in the wrong direction and kept heading south. The following conversation is somewhat condensed, but you'll get the idea:
Douche: So we've pieced together what happened, but we need to speak to you because you were the one who called 911.
Me: Oh. How did you piece together what happened without speaking to the woman or to myself?
Douche: Well, we've looked at the property and determined that she must have been on the snow embankment.
Me: Excuse me? I witnessed the accident. She was not on the snow embankment.
Douche: (looking a bit deflated) How do you know that? You didn't see her fall, did you?
Me: Yes, I did. I witnessed the entire thing. At no point was she on top of an embankment. Why in the world would you think she was?
Douche: We've examined the lot and we can't see any ice where she fell.
Me: Do you suppose that's because ICE MELTS AND IT'S TWO WEEKS LATER?
Douche: Okay, okay. Settle down. What did you see happen?
Me: She was walking through the parking lot at a normal pace and slipped on a patch of ice.
Douche: Are you sure she wasn't on the embankment? Because it's very slippery over there. Someone crawling over the snow could fall very easily. You sure she wasn't in that area?
Me: Yes. I am sure that the elderly woman was not climbing all over the snow embankment for no fucking reason.
Douche: And you saw the whole thing?
Me: Yes. I saw the entire accident from beginning to end.
Douche: (Very deflated) Okay. Thanks for your time.
So I've ruined Insurance Company's big plan, you see. They figured if this lady sues, they'd have some bullshit story about her being negligent with her own safety and not using the prescribed walking paths.
She'll deny it, of course, but she's a bit on in years, and she has suffered a head injury. She just doesn't remember crawling all over the snow embankment.
But turns out this silly broad who called 911 saw the whole thing, and she wasn't hip to the scam. Just wasn't going for it at all.
Originally, I felt that the accident was a freak occurence and no one's fault. I still mostly feel that way. Ice happens in the spring; it's unavoidable with the quickly changing temperatures and the run-off from the snowbanks.
It's why I found the whole thing so disturbing. There was no one to blame, really. Bad things just happen.
But I was so disgusted by this insurance investigator that I hope the lady (if she's okay) does sue. You know what? They probably should have come by with some salt that morning.
So if she sues them for negligence, I'll testify for her. And I'll let everyone know what the insurance company tried to pull, too.
A few weeks ago, as I was getting ready for work, my Guard Pug alerted me to the presence of an Unauthorized Intruder in our parking lot. I glanced up and saw a woman walking through the lot. Many pedestrians (non-residents) cut through our condo property to get to the walking trail behind it. No one who lives in the complex minds at all (with the exception of my dogs).
I told Guard Pug to chill out and was about to turn away when I saw the woman step on a patch of ice. I knew before she even hit the ground that it was going to be bad. She was an older lady, probably in her late 60's, and the way she was walking had suggested that she wasn't as quick and nimble as she used to be.
Sure enough, she wasn't able to get her hands out underneath her body before she hit the ground. Both of her feet flew up in front of her and the impact was absorbed by the back of her head. Her head literally bounced off the pavement.
Now she was flat on her back and not moving.
I threw on my shoes and coat and grabbed my phone. She was still unconscious when I got to her. There was a pool of blood gathering, and I felt a surge of panic, but I heard my husband's voice in my head saying something he had told me years ago (he's a former lifeguard): "Scalp wounds bleed like buggers. They always look worse than they are."
Nonetheless, the lady was unconscious, so I called 911. As I'm giving the operator the location and a description of the incident, the woman started coming around. She actually sat up, much to my relief.
Unfortunately, she wasn't making any sense. The operator wanted to know her name, age, medications...and she wasn't able to answer any of these questions. She just kept saying, "I'[m not supposed to be here. I need to go home now."
The operator asked me to apply pressure to the wound. I took one look at the back of this woman's head and said, "I have no idea where the wound is." There was so much blood. A neighbour had at this point arrived on scene with a bath towel, and I pressed it against the woman's head.
The EMTs arrived quickly, at least. I stood around for a minute, realized how useless I was, and headed in the direction of work.
The neighbour who provided the towel walked with me for a moment, and announced her intention to notify the superintendent about the ice issue. She was blazing mad. I eventually got mad too, but at the time I was too shaken to think about it.
Fast forward to yesterday: I've spent the last several weeks thinking about this lady and praying that she was okay. I was probably obsessing over the accident a bit much. As I told my sister, "It's not right. It's just not right that this woman could wake up one morning thinking, 'What a lovely day for a walk' and then end up being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. All because of one misstep on a stupid patch of ice."
So that was the frame of mind I was in when a man knocked on my door yesterday. I hesitated to open the door at first, because he was wearing business-casual attire and carrying a clipboard. That just screams salesman.
But Guard Pug was flipping the hell out, so I went to the door to tell Sales Guy to go away.
Turns out he was an insurance investigator, representing our property management company. You know, the company that is hired to keep the frickin' ice out of our frickin' parking lots.
He knew nothing about the condition of the woman who slipped, which disappointed me. What I wanted to hear was "Oh, yes. She came around in the ambulance, got stitched up and was sent home immediately."
But he had no news on that front. There has been no contact between this woman or her family and the property management office. He was simply doing a preliminary investigation, having been given the head's up by our superintendent.
Insurance guy started off in the wrong direction and kept heading south. The following conversation is somewhat condensed, but you'll get the idea:
Douche: So we've pieced together what happened, but we need to speak to you because you were the one who called 911.
Me: Oh. How did you piece together what happened without speaking to the woman or to myself?
Douche: Well, we've looked at the property and determined that she must have been on the snow embankment.
Me: Excuse me? I witnessed the accident. She was not on the snow embankment.
Douche: (looking a bit deflated) How do you know that? You didn't see her fall, did you?
Me: Yes, I did. I witnessed the entire thing. At no point was she on top of an embankment. Why in the world would you think she was?
Douche: We've examined the lot and we can't see any ice where she fell.
Me: Do you suppose that's because ICE MELTS AND IT'S TWO WEEKS LATER?
Douche: Okay, okay. Settle down. What did you see happen?
Me: She was walking through the parking lot at a normal pace and slipped on a patch of ice.
Douche: Are you sure she wasn't on the embankment? Because it's very slippery over there. Someone crawling over the snow could fall very easily. You sure she wasn't in that area?
Me: Yes. I am sure that the elderly woman was not climbing all over the snow embankment for no fucking reason.
Douche: And you saw the whole thing?
Me: Yes. I saw the entire accident from beginning to end.
Douche: (Very deflated) Okay. Thanks for your time.
So I've ruined Insurance Company's big plan, you see. They figured if this lady sues, they'd have some bullshit story about her being negligent with her own safety and not using the prescribed walking paths.
She'll deny it, of course, but she's a bit on in years, and she has suffered a head injury. She just doesn't remember crawling all over the snow embankment.
But turns out this silly broad who called 911 saw the whole thing, and she wasn't hip to the scam. Just wasn't going for it at all.
Originally, I felt that the accident was a freak occurence and no one's fault. I still mostly feel that way. Ice happens in the spring; it's unavoidable with the quickly changing temperatures and the run-off from the snowbanks.
It's why I found the whole thing so disturbing. There was no one to blame, really. Bad things just happen.
But I was so disgusted by this insurance investigator that I hope the lady (if she's okay) does sue. You know what? They probably should have come by with some salt that morning.
So if she sues them for negligence, I'll testify for her. And I'll let everyone know what the insurance company tried to pull, too.
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