Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life 379
russoc4 writes "Most people who play the United States Army's freeware FPS sit through training simulations so that they may be able to get into the action and rack up some kills. The medic skills learned in the training allow you to heal teammates in the game, but it seems that they also apply in real life situations. According to Wired and the America's Army forums, 'a North Carolina man who saw an SUV flip and roll on a highway last November was able to provide medical aid to the victims with skills he learned from the America's Army.'" See? We learn things from videogames! Feign Death works sometimes, too.
Propaganda (Score:3, Interesting)
All in the name of making an army recruitment tool seem like a benefit to society.
Re:Don't try this at home (Score:2, Interesting)
As far as rendering first aid to an accident victim, most states have a Good Samaritan law which exempts the person trying to render first aid from legal recourse. The game maker probably has some extremely small print disclaimer somewhere which states that they can not be held liable for anything in or resulting from participating in the game. It wouldn't suprise me if the disclaimer probably states something along the lines of 'procedures learned in the game should not be tried in real life.'
Re:Propaganda (Score:1, Interesting)
don't come off like one of those morons who actually thinks the news prints/broadcasts every noteworthy story they get. you know damn well that the mainstream media pigeonholes stories as policy and not as an exception.
look at slashdot: nearly everything microsoft that is posted here is negative and yet if a six man office in cuba adopts linux it's treated like a major victory. sure, there's no bias here. why didn't we see a front page article about my company abandoning our linux servers in 2006? we are a fortune 50 company after all.
BF2 Encouraged me to become a medic (Score:4, Interesting)
It fostered in me a desire to obtain basic medical skills. Just as it is helpful to be able to revive your comrad in the game, I thought it would be helpful to be able to render real aid to a person in an accident.
So I registered for an EMT-B certification class and after about 120 hours of class time and 24 hours of on-site training, I was qualified to take the exam and am now a certified EMT-B and considering pursing the certification all the way up to paramedic.
I will do it only on a volunteer basis - I already have a profession - but it is a worthwile skill and I am glad I obtained it.
Re:Don't try this at home (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Leave it to the pros except for immediate dange (Score:3, Interesting)
IF you've been taught proper procedures though, the helmet will come off if the person is unconscious; you need access to the airway whether they're breathing or not.
Why the hell would anyone on the side of the road need "access to someone's airway" if they're breathing, and said bystanders have no medical equipment (unless, of course, there's a Rescue Rodger on the scene.) The only reason you remove a person's helmet if they've been in a motorcycle crash is because you need to perform CPR to keep them alive. The risk of complete paralyzing them otherwise is far too great.
Re:Depends on the state (Score:1, Interesting)
The woman was blessed with particularly sizeable 'lungs' and the man had to remove her over the shoulder boulder holder to get them out of the way (if anyone here had actually experienced boobs, you'd know they're mostly squishy and would absorb a lot of the energy from the CPR, rendering it useless).
This one man is the sole reason that the woman is alive today, and she likely wouldn't be if he hadn't flopped her titties out. He rendered assistance until the paramedics arrived and took over.
The fucking ingrateful bitch took him to court, sued him for exposing her breasts and a couple of other things to do with touching her cans and won damages for the humiliation of said events.
Re:YES!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
It's one thing for the skills to translate to real life-- the whole point of America's Army, after all, is a combat simulator. So you learn some first aid, and you also learn some combat tactics.
The real question isn't whether the game gives you knowledge, but whether the game makes you more likely to do something you wouldn't do otherwise. Do you have more of an inclination to find people to bandage after doing it in game? Probably not, no more than you would be more inclined to shoot somebody.
Re:Propaganda (Score:5, Interesting)
It's almost certainly not propaganda, because it sites a very specific and verifiable incident (and gives the guys name), but either way, it's harmless. No one's playing a game where they get shot all the time and then deciding they want some of that in the real world. The only reason AA is still around is because the Army is essentially the mother of all bureaucracies, and even useless projects frequently don't get cut.
And as an aside, the medic training in the game IS informative. I now know not to give cold water to people suffering from heatstroke (apparently they can go into shock).
Re:YES!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
I spent 15 minutes reading a first aid manual when I was a kid. Amazing how much of the "medical help learned in America's Army" is just common sense and first aid basics. That ANYONE above the age of 12, in a CIVILIZED FIRST WORLD COUNTRY, would LACK THESE SKILLS, tells me all I need to know about how "educated" and "enlightened" westerners truly are as compared to how much they THINK they are.
Sheesh. Keeping wounds above heart level keeps the blood from spurting out as rapidly. That's basic physics mixed with basic anatomy or first aid. These were actually taught in 4th to 7th grade in most of the eastern block commie countries not that long ago. In the meanwhile they've "westernized" also. In other words, they now attend twice as much school and get half as much education. IMHO, its all the more reason to teach your own kids, presuming, of course, that you've got some actual knowledge to impart and can offer them a good start in the experience that is life and didn't just breed pointlessly as most humans today do.
Re:Lawsuits? (Score:3, Interesting)
I also feel that first aid courses that put a serious focus on vehicle accident response should be a mandatory part of obtaining a driver's license. I'd consider the first aid kit optional perhaps, but anyone who took the courses seriously would have one anyway.
If for no other reason (and there are others, such as getting more people trained, and I feel the same as you about that), it might make a lot of people think more seriously about just how dangerous the vehicle they are driving can be. I think we can all agree there are entirely too many ignorant people out on the roads.
SB
Re:Propaganda (Score:2, Interesting)
Bullshit Puff Piece? (Score:4, Interesting)
Not to mention that pulling somebody from a car without first figuring out what their injuries are is a fucking bad idea, unless the car is about to explode (hint: it isn't, unless you're in a movie).
Re:YES!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
At least that way most of adult population has some idea of first aid. Though most things are soon forgotten, there's a good likelihood that at least someone from passers-by will know what to do.