What do you do if you are in a wreck and carrying?

beamernc

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What do you do with your concealed carry piece if you are in a wreck and need to be transported to the hospital and your car is going to be towed? Something to think about in case it ever happens.

I had this happen to me this morning on the way to work. Was stopped in traffic on 485 and a car 2 back from me did not stop, slammed the little girl behind me into my back end. My back and hip started hurting immediately and I never got out of the car. The FD showed up, put me in a neck brace and and I asked them what I should do with my pistol, which I had put in my back pack and did not want to disappear if my car was towed. The fireman told me to take my backpack with me and not say anything about it. When CMPD showed up, I had to inform and gave him my DL. As they put me in the ambulance, the cop tells EMS that I have a pistol in my bag. At that point, EMS cannot transport my backpack. The cop, who had the personality of a pile of shit, gets in the ambulance and says that if someone cannot show up to take possession of it before the ambulance leaves, he will have to impound it and it will be a pain in the ass to get back. I asked him to lock it in the trunk and he said he would not. He told me I could get up and drive myself to the hospital and keep possession of both my car and pistol.

So I called my boss and he had someone bring him over to get it and my car. EMS actually called dispatch and said they were waiting for someone to secure something at the scene, so they waited. EMS said that if they had not know about the pistol until we had left the scene, hospital security would have been informed and they would have kept it until I left. The NCHP trooper came to the hospital and was very nice. I asked him what I should do in this situation and he said to basically keep quite and go on with everything,

So I spent the day in the ER at CMC main from about 7:30 til 3:00 this afternoon. They did x-rays and came back and said it looked like a fracture in my L5 and a bone chip in my groin area. So then I waited 4 more hours to get a CT. Turned out, nothing was broken, but really sore.
 
Happened to me about 5 years ago. Rear ended. Neck collar and back brace. Locked them in my truck and called my in-laws to pick it up. I went to the ER in the ambulance.
 
I have a lock box in the truck. I could lock the gun in the box and keep that in my backpack, no one would know what was in it. Ought to have one in every vehicle, just in case.
Great idea. I will put my lock box in my truck.
 
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Great thread, brings up something I'd never thought of before
 
Was she cute? The girl? ;)


Yeah, mobile lockbox and or a secure box solidly attached to the vehicle. Otherwise, STFU.

Speaking of lockboxes, I discovered one I had been using, had a plastic locking mechanism. The tab was metal, but the turning post was plastic. Also, the mechanism protruded far enough into the space, that if you weren't careful placing your gun, it could get scratched. Replaced it with a slightly roomier version with metal locking parts.
 
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Once the car it towed to the lot, the tow agent will take an inventory of all items,
so good that you were able to have the car driven off site.
 
Glad you're able to share this experience.

Wait, I don't mean I'm happy you were hurt...but happy you got thru it ok. ;)
 
Got a lock box in one car and added a console safe to the other one.
 
I thought about this after my accident back in July. I was lucky and able to drive off, but wondered what I would of done if I couldn't.

I will be keeping an eye on this thread.
 
What do you do with your concealed carry piece if you are in a wreck and need to be transported to the hospital and your car is going to be towed? Something to think about in case it ever happens.

I had this happen to me this morning on the way to work. Was stopped in traffic on 485 and a car 2 back from me did not stop, slammed the little girl behind me into my back end. My back and hip started hurting immediately and I never got out of the car. The FD showed up, put me in a neck brace and and I asked them what I should do with my pistol, which I had put in my back pack and did not want to disappear if my car was towed. The fireman told me to take my backpack with me and not say anything about it. When CMPD showed up, I had to inform and gave him my DL. As they put me in the ambulance, the cop tells EMS that I have a pistol in my bag. At that point, EMS cannot transport my backpack. The cop, who had the personality of a pile of shit, gets in the ambulance and says that if someone cannot show up to take possession of it before the ambulance leaves, he will have to impound it and it will be a pain in the ass to get back. I asked him to lock it in the trunk and he said he would not. He told me I could get up and drive myself to the hospital and keep possession of both my car and pistol.

So I called my boss and he had someone bring him over to get it and my car. EMS actually called dispatch and said they were waiting for someone to secure something at the scene, so they waited. EMS said that if they had not know about the pistol until we had left the scene, hospital security would have been informed and they would have kept it until I left. The NCHP trooper came to the hospital and was very nice. I asked him what I should do in this situation and he said to basically keep quite and go on with everything,

So I spent the day in the ER at CMC main from about 7:30 til 3:00 this afternoon. They did x-rays and came back and said it looked like a fracture in my L5 and a bone chip in my groin area. So then I waited 4 more hours to get a CT. Turned out, nothing was broken, but really sore.
I'm glad you didn't have anything broken and hope the soreness goes away soon.
 
Don't your giant dogs have them wooden barrels around their necks? Could have whistled for one of them and put it in the barrel.

In all seriousness, this is the main issue I have with duty to inform. The fireman was morally correct in his answer in my opinion. But legally you were obligated to inform the cop. If you hadn't been so bound (or if you had chosen to ignore your legal obligation) no one would have known and there would have been no issue.
 
I keep a lock box in my car for whatever reason, this is a good one. I also *rarely* carry anything I would cry about losing.
 
Unless things have changed....Duke PD will lock it up, at the hospital. I know when I was with EMS we had patients who carried; when I was in the ED, we had patients show up who were carrying. A gray area because you can't carry at the hospital, but no one made any stink about it.
 
They can't convict you of anything if you don't inform in those circumstances. Even a rookie lawyer could get you outa that, it would seem.
 
Unless things have changed....Duke PD will lock it up, at the hospital. I know when I was with EMS we had patients who carried; when I was in the ED, we had patients show up who were carrying. A gray area because you can't carry at the hospital, but no one made any stink about it.
When you said ED, I wasn't thinking Emergency Department. :D
 
In all seriousness, this is the main issue I have with duty to inform. The fireman was morally correct in his answer in my opinion. But legally you were obligated to inform the cop. If you hadn't been so bound (or if you had chosen to ignore your legal obligation) no one would have known and there would have been no issue.
I was thinking about this. Without checking the statutes, I believe it says something to the effect of on our about your person. In a lock box would remove the accessibility component and hence you could make an argument about it no longer qualifying under duty to inform. Generally speaking, I think duty to inform is really stupid.
Unless things have changed....Duke PD will lock it up, at the hospital. I know when I was with EMS we had patients who carried; when I was in the ED, we had patients show up who were carrying. A gray area because you can't carry at the hospital, but no one made any stink about it.
Another issue with the overly liberal definition of educational property.

On the subject of ED, I heard a story about a guy who took viagra that didn't need it and several hours later when it still hadn't worn off he went to the ED. They gave him a shot and yes, you guessed where. Just seeing them with the syringe and knowing where it was going almost cured his plight.
 
The only real world experience I have with this is a call I rode at work. It was an MVA and the guy was carrying. He informed us as we were putting him on a back board. I removed the pistol from his holster and placed it in his glove box. He informed the cop too. She told him someone could come get it if he wanted or the pd could hang onto it until he could retrieve it. She was super cool about it and iirc she said she didn’t have to enter it into evidence so it wouldn’t be a pain to get back when he decided to come get it.


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The FD showed up, put me in a neck brace and and I asked them what I should do with my pistol, which I had put in my back pack and did not want to disappear if my car was towed. The fireman told me to take my backpack with me and not say anything about it...

The NCHP trooper came to the hospital and was very nice. I asked him what I should do in this situation and he said to basically keep quiet and go on with everything,

Sounds like you received good advice from at least two folks.
 
I've come across this before quite a few times. When we transport someone who is carrying we seure your gun in the ambulance. After we unload you in the ER we get hospital security to take it after that. As far as I know they give it back to you on discharge.
 
A Yankee Bitch knocked me off a motorcycle after she blew through a stop sign and knocked me up under a car. This was before the general population could have CWPs. When I arrived at the hospital as Steve said above, I called the Security over to the ambulance and handed him my CWP [which he had never seen one before] and 2 guns. He took them a stayed right with me until they released me 3 hours later. nice man.
 
Once the car it towed to the lot, the tow agent will take an inventory of all items,
so good that you were able to have the car driven off site.

I always just assumed that anything of value would be gone by the time you got the car back. It going through so many hands and with no accountability sitting in who knows what lot for how long that somewhere along the way someone would just help themselves to anything they wanted.
 
I always just assumed that anything of value would be gone by the time you got the car back. It going through so many hands and with no accountability sitting in who knows what lot for how long that somewhere along the way someone would just help themselves to anything they wanted.

Aaaahh! That is why you have the Kel-Tac fascination. :p
 
Once the car it towed to the lot, the tow agent will take an inventory of all items,
so good that you were able to have the car driven off site.
Where did you here this, I have towed cars for years and know many wrecker drivers and have never heard of this. Going thru a car is a good way to get fired. To be on police rotation you have to have a secure storage area also to lock the vehical up. Simple fact is depending on the severity of the colision things get thrown from cars. My best friend died in a crash one night and there where a few items that we never found after searching for hours and we where there before the car was removed from the scene. Belongings where thrown well over 150' away into the woods.
 
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Since I'm an old fart, I've thought about this a lot. My first option would be to call my son who lives nearby. However, he's frequently out of state and sometimes out of the country. Nevertheless, does anyone know if the medical personnel would be inclined to wait, say 30 minutes, for him to show up? These younger cops can be difficult from what I've seen so I don't know about them. I would be very, very, very reluctant to turn my sidearm over to one of them. I saw one in a gun shop not too long ago asking where the safety was on a Smith 642.
 
Yeah I think I would keep quiet and carry on, and if pressed, forget my duty to inform due to undue stress.....until they ask you to undress, nobody should know you're carrying.

What's the charge/infraction/fine for failing to inform an LEO? It's so far low down the totem pole in the scheme of things........during a real emergency, IDRGAF.
 
Hopefully you're not injured too severely and are able to make decisions as to what to do with your carry gun. Couple months back my wife and I were headed out to get some lunch, when we witnessed a very bad wreck right in front of us. Traffic stopped pretty suddenly and a young girl who was either not paying attention or too inexperienced to react in time, rear ended two older men on a pair of trikes who were stopped side by side. She slammed her brakes just before she hit them and impacted them at a high rate of speed and pretty much went through them. Wife is a critical care nurse and I am a Corpsman so we got out and started assessing/ controlling the scene as best we could. These dudes were an absolute mess; one didn't have a helmet on and was unconscious for most of the time, with VERY serious head trauma. During my assessment on him I found a Shield .40 in his pocket, chambered and no holster; luckily it had a thumb safety at least. I cleared it and tossed it into my trauma bag to deal with later as there was a lot of people starting to get out and "help". The Fire Dept took about 15mins for the first rig to get on scene and PD didn't show up till about 25mins after the first 911 call. After the cops looked like they had everything under control I approached one and told him I had removed a pistol from one of the guys. Wasn't a big deal, he took it, wrote a receipt for property and gave me a copy for my files and we went on our way. I'm not sure how the gentleman would go about retrieving it, or if he ever even did as I'm not sure if he survived, didn't look promising for him.


Side note.......Keep latex gloves in your vehicle and Check them every so often. I had some in my trauma bag but they were old and just fell apart. I had to get one of the firefighters to clean me and my wife up as we had quite a bit of blood on our hands/arms.
 
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Three years for disposable natural latex gloves and up to five years for disposable nitrile.
 
I keep gloves for All differnet reasons but the must be replaced from time to time.

As a Paramedic I have encountered this several times. I typically secure the weapon myself if the patient is unconscious or might become combative. If I do not know about it I don’t care (obviously) I have in the past had patients lock them up in boxes like mentioned above and put into their backpack and I haven’t said anything at all. Sometimes cops will secure them. There is one Trooper I know that will secure it and give the person his personal cell number and will return it when they get sent home from the ER. He is really good about it. He took possession of 7 rifles from s guy fleeing Hurricane Matthew that got T boned. No rifles were messed up but the guy broke a rib. We took him to the ER and the trooper took his weapons and secured them for him. He took them to the guy at the ER and then took guy to a local hotel once he got released.
 
I keep gloves for All differnet reasons but the must be replaced from time to time.

As a Paramedic I have encountered this several times. I typically secure the weapon myself if the patient is unconscious or might become combative. If I do not know about it I don’t care (obviously) I have in the past had patients lock them up in boxes like mentioned above and put into their backpack and I haven’t said anything at all. Sometimes cops will secure them. There is one Trooper I know that will secure it and give the person his personal cell number and will return it when they get sent home from the ER. He is really good about it. He took possession of 7 rifles from s guy fleeing Hurricane Matthew that got T boned. No rifles were messed up but the guy broke a rib. We took him to the ER and the trooper took his weapons and secured them for him. He took them to the guy at the ER and then took guy to a local hotel once he got released.
Yes, in my experience, if the victim of injury is incapacitated or whatever the cops will secure it. Never stuck around to see what happened after that, but never heard any complaints, so I'm assuming they just get it back upon request (assuming gun friendly area).

Honestly, probably the last thing you're worried about if it's a serious accident.
 
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