A local trauma nurse is hosting a first aid class aimed at teaching riders what to do in the event of a Chicago motorcycle accident.
The Sun-Times reports that the clinical nurse at Loyola Center for Heart & Health Medicine in Park Ridge developed the idea after a decade of treating motorcycle victims in the emergency room and suffering a motorcycle accident of her own in 2006. That accident was caused by a motorist throwing a Gatorade bottle out the window. The nurse suffered a dislocated shoulder, broken ankle and severe road rash after laying her bike down on I-55.Fellow riders assisted her during the 40-minute wait for emergency personnel to arrive.
“I realized how ill-prepared motorcyclists are for accidents — including me at that time,” said Teresa McClelland. “And I realized how important it was that the riders with me knew what to do.”
She began teaching a class called A Crash Course for the Motorcyclist to motorcycle riders, scooter riders, EMS workers and nurses. The crash focuses on what to do in the minutes after a motorcycle accident to secure the scene and assist the injured until professional help arrives.
As Chicago injury lawyers we applaud such programs and encourage every rider to take advantage of safety instruction.
“Usually, the first person at the scene [of a motorcycle accident] is another cyclist — and often these accidents are in rural areas,” she told the Sun-Times. “I am trying to train bikers how to handle that golden hour between the accident and when the emergency response team arrives.”
Advice in the class includes information on securing the scene, how and when to move an injured rider, traffic control, how to move a motorcycle, and the proper information to provide a 911 dispatcher. McClelland is also the director of training and curriculum for Rescue Riders, a non-profit group of volunteer bikers who lend their emergency response training to large motorcycle events.
She understands the grim statistics faced by riders — 17 percent of crashes involve motorcycle riders, who are eight times more likely to be seriously injured than car drivers. Ninety-eight percent of motorcycle accidents involving another vehicle result in injuries to the rider. Almost half result in serious or life-threatening injuries.
Not only does she encourage every rider to take a safety course, she encourages them to get CPR training and to enroll in an accident management class as well. Basic and advanced safety courses are being offered at Loyola University Health System on the following Saturdays: July 24, Sept. 4, Sept. 18, Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Nov. 13 and Nov. 27.
For additional information visit www.accidentscene.org.
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