Bystanders did call

[Liberal_in_LA]

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Surveillance video showed bystanders apparently ignoring a 78-year-old man after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver last week in Hartford, Connecticut. But officials are now backtracking on their criticism of do-nothing attitudes, saying that four people did dial 911 within a minute of the accident.

http://www.kxmc.com/News/245576.asp

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. there was a nasty case a while back

that happened out near Venice Beach or West Hollywood where a 70 something man was stabbed and lay dying in the gutter and nobody stopped.
Everybody though he was just some homeless guy.

[2rth2pwr]

2. Without a script, how could these people have made the calls?

[WillowTree]

3. Big effin' deal.

They called 911 and then just stood there doing nothing. No one approached that poor man to see if he was conscious, to hold his hand and try to comfort him until help arrived. No one diverted oncoming traffic so that it was only by the grace of God that he wasn't hit again. They just stood there...or in many cases they can be seen to just walk away.

I don't know how people like that live with themselves.

[cynatnite]

4. A lot of people just don't know what to do...

They're not educated on it at all. I've believed for years that every high school student should be required to take some sort of first aid. It's all about knowing what to do.

[bean fidhleir]

5. Bingo. *Well* spotted. People need to be trained in how to respond

Nobody should be criticized because they don't know what to do in a country where the best intentions can get you into trouble.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. So true.

I learned the simplest first aid in Girl Scouts as a grade schooler. Would that have helped me in the Hartford case? No. Would it make me feel an obligation to try to do something? Yes.
I haven't been witness to anything that horrible but I have been at the scene of minor accidents and the first aid training kicked in. My first impulse is to go to the person and offer help, even though I have little to offer other than a hand to hold and a phone to call 911.

[malaise]

6. You're lucky Lou Dobbs wasn't there

He would have dragged him to the nearest border.