Picture this: you're at a party. All your friends are there and you're all having a fantastic time. There's alcohol being passed around and obviously a lot of people have maybe had one too many. Then, from the corner of your eye, you see a young kid, no older than you, passed out in the hall. His breathing is sullen, his lips are turning blue, and he's in a cold sweat. You think you should call an ambulance. Everyone's telling you not to. No one wants to stop having fun! Why should this one guy shut down the party of the year?
So you're at a crossroad. Do you call for help or no?
You don't want your friends to get in trouble. Everyone's having so much fun. You also don't want the person who threw the party to get in trouble. Cops aren't fun to deal with, and you don't want to be a bummer. But there's one tiny detail that's keeping you from rejoining the party - this boy. So why should you not call 911 and what should you do?
Call 911.
It doesn't matter how many people are having fun, how much trouble someone could get in, or how scared you are of being the group bummer, you call 911. You call 911 if their unconscious, you call 911 if they're not breathing, and you call 911 if your gut tells you to. In the end, this is about saving someone's life. Even if you think that they may be 'okay', you never want to be the person who doesn't get help.
Let me say that again:
You never want to be the one who doesn't get help.
I've always been a firm believer that if something doesn't feel right, go with your gut. If they didn't end up needing the medical attention, then whatever, you can move on, but calling for help when you think that someone needs it is way better than ignoring it and then being responsible for the person not waking up the next morning.
Most of the time, people my age will say stuff like "oh they're fine, don't worry" or "they're always like this!" to excuse blatant signs of alcohol poisoning, such as self-urinating, vomiting, or shallow breathing. Even if you think somebody is sleeping it off, it's so important you make sure they're conscious and unable to vomit on themselves or even choke on their own vomit.
Let's look back on the recent situation with Penn State and the tragic death of a fraternity pledge. Throughout the night in question, the victim was almost three-times the legal limit, had fallen downstairs, and laid unconscious for hours until someone 12 hours later finally called for help. Through out the night, there was evidence of clear neglect towards the pledge, and as a result, Tim Piazza died.
This all could have been avoided. This pledge didn't have to die.
All it could've taken was someone saying "this is not right" and getting help long before he was found laying lifeless behind the fraternity house bar. One person would have been enough to make that 911 call. And one person could have given Tim Piazza his life back.
This article isn't to shame those involved nor those who maybe didn't call for help maybe when they should have in times past.
This is a motivation, this is telling you that it takes one person to save a life. You should always be better safe than sorry and you should never let someone push you against your better judgement, especially when it comes to someone's life.
I'll say it again, because this is so important, but it's something I live by: you never want to be the one who doesn't call for help.
Please, I'm begging you, listen to your gut. Do the right thing. Look out for each other. As humans, I feel like we sometimes isolate ourselves but the reality is that we all need to care for each other the way we would like to be. If someone needs help, get them help. I promise you never want to be the one who doesn't.
