The Importance Of Seat Belt Signs

It was a summer night in July and my friends invited me over to hang out before everyone started leaving for college. I called an Uber to take me to my friend Mahalia’s house but, I did not make it to my destination. Two minutes after leaving my house, a car struck the driver’s seat of my uber. The uber driver, who I had known for exactly two minutes, and I grabbed each other’s hands. For some reason, we screamed to the top of our lungs until the car stopped. Because I have watched entirely too many movies, I ran out of the car in fear of it turning into a fiery explosion. I observed all of my extremities and found no obvious injuries.
Unfortunately, the two other cars involved had injured people so an ambulance was called. I told the paramedic that I was fine and I didn’t need to go to the hospital. She told me to get into the ambulance for a quick exam and then I could go home. She saw that my seatbelt had dug into my chest and abdomen making what paramedics call a “seat belt sign.” Seat belt signs mean there is a risk of internal bleeding so, they were required to take me to run some tests. Once they finished taking my vitals, they ran tests to check for internal bleeding and other possible injuries. While …show more content…
The US healthcare system is used to describe the networks of hospitals, insurance companies, drug companies, clinics, pharmacies, government, and other institutions working together to maintain overall population health. It is complex and frankly, it is broken. It doesn't serve the US population in the ways that it should. In fact, it's one of the most dangerous threats to the US economy. Although the system is broken, it can be repaired. But, in order to be able to find a solution, you must first understand how our healthcare system pales in comparison to the system’s of most other industrialized