Sudden encounter with a stranger’s medical emergency creates instant, total responsibility

Evidence

As I crested the hill, I saw a young woman walking her dog in the opposite direction. We were just about to pass each other when she stopped and fell to the ground—luckily in a patch of grass in front of a church—and started having a seizure. I don’t remember the order of events immediately following that. I do know that I dialed 911 and yelled “help” loud enough that people in the apartment building across the street came out, and that I somehow summoned the presence of mind to give the dispatcher the cross street and describe the circumstances. Initially, the woman’s eyes were open and looking directly at me, returning my gaze without seeing. It was as surreal as it was terrifying. Before others arrived, on that otherwise empty street, I felt completely responsible to this person I had never seen before a few minutes ago. — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 440

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Shared identity can emerge rapidly during, not before, an emergency. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 61; Shared danger of death heightens unity among strangers in an emergency. — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 104; Solidarity among emergency survivors stems from perceiving strangers as oneself. — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 14 (+1 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Shared identity can emerge rapidly during, not before, an emergency. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 61; Shared danger of death heightens unity among strangers in an emergency. — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 104; Solidarity among emergency survivors stems from perceiving strangers as oneself. — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 14 (+1 more)