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Video: Car lifted off Oxford cyclist who was trapped beneath itCar lifted off Oxford cyc;ist - video still by Mehmet Yildirim

Video: Car lifted off Oxford cyclist who was trapped beneath it

Incident happened on city's New Inn Hall Street on Thursday lunchtime...
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Aug 20, 2015 23:21
9

Paramedics in Oxford have praised passers-by who helped lift a car off a woman who had become trapped underneath it as she cycled through the city centre at Thursday lunchtime.

The incident, captured on video from the adjacent Java & Co café by Mehmet Yildirim, happened shortly after noon on New Inn Hall Street.

He told the Oxford Mail: “It was like a big earthquake - it was a terrible shake.

“I put my head out of the window and saw the women lying there, next to her bike.

“Some people lifted the car off her before the ambulance and police turned up."

– Passers-by lift car off stricken London cyclist

South Central Ambulance Service spokeswoman Michelle Archer said: "We would like to thank those members of the public who came out of local premises and were in the street at the time of a collision in Oxford this afternoon.

"Their quick actions to rescue a lady who had become trapped underneath a car meant that as soon as our paramedic arrived on scene they could start that vital immediate treatment."

The cyclist was taken to the city’s John Radcliffe Hospital with serious leg injuries.

What is unclear is how the car came to be on New Inn Hall Street, just off the busy George Street, in the first place, and where traffic restrictions during the daytime mean it is barred to through traffic.

The position of the car suggests that the driver may have been trying to execute a three-point turn at the point when he or she collided with the cyclist. The impact was enough to shatter the café’s window.

Just last weekend, 15 people lifted a car off a rider taking part in the Wiggle Cotswolds Sportive after he was trapped beneath it.

– Crowd lifts Audi off critically injured Wiggle sportive rider at weekend

And in May, dozens of people in Walthamstow, north east London, lifted a bus off a unicyclist after he was run over.

– Passers-by free unicyclist from underneath bus following collision in Walthamstow

Oxford
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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Edgeley | 9 years ago
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New Inn Hall Street is open to cars, and not restricted as the article says. It is genuine shared space, blocked at one end and with a 20 mph limit which it woud be difficult to reach. Bit worrying that the incident happened.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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Pesky cars. They can attack any place any time.

Was the driver injured?

Was the cyclist wearing a helmet?

Was the car damaged?

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BrokenBootneck | 9 years ago
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If they have been trapped for more than ten minutes they should be left, as releasing the object in this case a car can be harmful, unless there is further danger to life by leaving them trapped. If the car was on there chest and they couldn't breath you would obviously have to move it. If it was their leg you would wait for emergency services if they had been trapped for more than ten mins.

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Paul_C replied to BrokenBootneck | 9 years ago
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BrokenBootneck wrote:

If they have been trapped for more than ten minutes they should be left, as releasing the object in this case a car can be harmful, unless there is further danger to life by leaving them trapped. If the car was on there chest and they couldn't breath you would obviously have to move it. If it was their leg you would wait for emergency services if they had been trapped for more than ten mins.

this is correct... longer than ten minutes means that tissues start to die and there is a buildup of toxins as a result. Releasing the compression means that these toxins are allowed back into the main body and you end up being in real danger from these toxins and can even die within minutes of the release of the crushing pressure...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_syndrome

The syndrome was discovered by British physician Eric Bywaters in patients during the 1941 London Blitz.[2][3] It is a reperfusion injury that appears after the release of the crushing pressure. The mechanism is believed to be the release into the bloodstream of muscle breakdown products—notably myoglobin, potassium and phosphorus—that are the products of rhabdomyolysis (the breakdown of skeletal muscle damaged by ischemic conditions).

It's also one of the reasons you are no longer told to use a tourniquet... although in extremis, it may be the only solution to permit you to treat other casualties.

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Mother Theresa | 9 years ago
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Legally if you do something in good faith (medically) the law is behind you. If you are medically qualified this is a bit more grey but as a passer-by you are safe.

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Hamster | 9 years ago
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Crush injuries from what I remember from first aid training are worse the longer the crush is in place. If the lady was removed almost immediately from under the car then crush symptoms are unlikely to have started. If the victim has been crushed for some time then removal of the crush will kill them due to major organ failure caused by a rush of poisoned blood (full of waste product from normal bodily function) to heart liver and kidneys.

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NOC40 | 9 years ago
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Could I ask any medically trained people if it's actually a good idea to lift vehicles off people? Particularly if it's only the vehicle that's stopping major blood loss? Also could there be legal implications if moving a vehicle then resulted in a much worse outcome?

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mrmo replied to NOC40 | 9 years ago
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NOC40 wrote:

Could I ask any medically trained people if it's actually a good idea to lift vehicles off people? Particularly if it's only the vehicle that's stopping major blood loss? Also could there be legal implications if moving a vehicle then resulted in a much worse outcome?

How it was explained when i did a work place first aider course a few years ago, removing the restriction can be a bad thing, if the restriction has been in place for a while toxins build up and are then released.

As for doing something, yes someone might try and sue, but if what you do is in good faith and for the right reasons then you should be fine.

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Jamminatrix replied to NOC40 | 9 years ago
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NOC40 wrote:

Also could there be legal implications if moving a vehicle then resulted in a much worse outcome?

Not sure about specific UK legislature, but I assume it is similar to USA in that Good Samaritan laws protect rescuers, so long as they are behaving within what the court defines 'reasonable' action.

Meaning if someone was trapped in a burning car with neck injuries, and the choice was to pull them out from the burning car or let them die because it was about to be engulfed in flames, and in the process of rescue the injured party becomes paralyzed from moving their neck around, the rescuer would be protected.

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