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Unfortunately, this isn't a view thoroughly appreciated by ambo's. I attended an accident last year when a friend came off & screwed himself pretty badly. There was no need to remove his helmet, as we were able to keep him in the shade and his airway wasn't compromised. It was a good 3/4 hour before the ambulance arrived (2 girls, much to my disappointment ) & the first one who jumped out said "why haven't you taken his helmet off?". I couldn't believe it. She had no idea what she was doing & I actually had to tell her to back off & got another rider to help me remove the helmet properly.

For anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in a situation with a bike crash victim, here's how to remove the helmet safely... One person (the more experienced, or sensible, if possible) essentially straddle the patient & gently work their hands up either side of the neck & head inside the helmet to support the neck in every way possible. When they are ready, another person can gently & very slowly remove the helmet.

Basically, if they're screwed, you're not going to do any further damage. All the horror stories we hear of riders' heads exploding when helmets are removed can be true to an extent, but basically, keeping the helmet on isn't going to change that.

my mate got on his lid ,IN THE EVENT OF A ACCIDENT ,PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE, this ought to be on all lids as standard ,so only qualified persons remove them

what a shame a real sad one that kaz

i had a mate who went wide on a turn and lost the front end , i was at the back and saw everything the guy behind the first mate looked at him and just followed him off the road , by this time the first guy is down from about 20mph the 2nd guy runs right in to his head , by the time i stopped and got to the the 1st guy he was choking, his airways were blocked , i know not to take the helmet off but i had no choice as he is turning blue by now
so like vtrgirlie says very slowly ,suporting his head took off his helmet arched his neck a wee bit to let him get air (he was out for the count)

he made a full recovery thank god, its a split second choice let him choke or take the chance , i took the chance and was lucky, he hardly speaks now i think he thinks he owes me , but he doesnt if it was me he would of done the same
all hell broke loose after that air ambulance and two normals came road shut for ages

We had this issue raised at a basic first aid course I was on a while back and as previously said, generally speaking if it's not absolutely necessary leave the crash helmet on, but in the case where it is necessary to remove it, we were advised to remove it as VTRgirl said by the first aid instructor once removed keep the head supported so it can't move until professional help arrives

kevstorm wrote:my mate got on his lid ,IN THE EVENT OF A ACCIDENT ,PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE, this ought to be on all lids as standard ,so only qualified persons remove them

I was just about to post exactly that! BIKE magazine (i think) ran a sticker campaign awhile ago with a very small sticker that you put on your visor detailing the above, if you ask me a brilliant idea! wish i had one!