[jason8225]

Tonight in one of my classes a guy had a seizure. One of the girls in the class has been a certified life guard for 4 years and immediately took action. She tried to calm him, had people help her get him onto the floor and on his side so he wouldn't choke or anything. She kept calming him, had everyone give him space so he wouldn't feel crowded and she comforted him throughout the entire ordeal. Right after the seizure began, somebody called 911 from a cell phone because there were no phones in the area AT ALL in the building. Somebody else ran to get Security so they could direct the ambulance. It took security 10 minutes to show up and the ambulance almost 20. The thing is, the fire station where the ambulance was dispatched from is right down the road from the school - not 2 minutes away. The school had no emergency plan for contacting help or getting the ambulance and paramedics where they need to go quickly. I will be writing a letter to the dean of the college about this. Luckily the guy pulled out of it for the most part and was just kind of out of it afterwards. I also immediately began praying for the guy, and luckily the prayers were answered.

 

[jason8225]

On top of all that, I am still in class right now. They didn't cancel the class after all that. They didn't even let the girl that was helping him and everything go!

 

[afi292]

what a crock of s***....


my school had two bombs attached to the side of it.. students were still left sleeping int he dorms, and i was sitting in class while they were disarming it with robots... and hoping i wouldnt hear a boom... stupid school

 

[Ryne]

the firefighters/EMTs are probably volunteers ( i don't know for sure, cause i'm not there...) but if they are, give them some slack. Sure, they may not get there right away, but remember that they drop everything they are doing (from family stuff to crappin on the toilet) to help people. They don't get nearly the respect they deserve. Still sucks about the guy though

 

[afi292]

Originally posted by Ryne@Feb 26 2004, 10:19 PM
the firefighters/EMTs are probably volunteers ( i don't know for sure, cause i'm not there...) but if they are, give them some slack. Sure, they may not get there right away, but remember that they drop everything they are doing (from family stuff to crappin on the toilet) to help people. They don't get nearly the respect they deserve. Still sucks about the guy though

i was reffering to how the school didnt cancel class...

 

[majisto]

Blah, I have grand-mal seizures so I know what that is like. Never had one in the middle of a class though because I have a warning aura.

She did the right thing by not trying to re-strain him, HOWEVER, she did do one thing wrong. She called for an ambulance. A seizure is a natural short circuit in the brain. While I hate them, they are kind just something you put up with. They do not require hospitilzation, because there really is nothing they can do. The guy probably felt dazed, and his legs probably hurt a lot, but he was fine, right?

But really, why cancel class? It's not like he's going to die. Unless the seizure goes on for more than 10 minutes you don't need to really worry.

 

[jason8225]

I completely understand about the volunteer people, I used to live in a township where that's all we had. But the area my school is in is the richest area around and the most heavily taxed and have everything staffed, so they were definitely "normal" paid paramedics. Plus the station is not but 2 minutes down the road in normal traffic.

The thing that really makes me mad in this situation is the school. Nobody from the school security staff was available to direct the paramedics on where to go and it took the school security about 10 minutes to send anybody. Plus the school had no emergency procedures in place for this. No emergency phones or anything.

The professor was actually the one who called for an ambulance. That was the only thing he did though. The seizure lasted about 10 minutes before he regained consciousness at all. Then he was out of it and didn't know where he was or anything. It was probably 1/2 hour before he actually was up off the floor (with help) and was back in a chair and everything.

About the cancelling class - everyone was very shook up especially some of the girls and it just didn't feel right. Everyone had their adrenaline pumping and were talking and everything, nobody paid attention and they just let the class out early.

 

[civicex]

A day back in high school, when my health class was showing a film on child birth (a baby bursting out of a woman's vagina), a classmate of mine had a seizure in class. She started shaking on her desk and then dropped to the floor shaking. Classmates ran for help and the teacher used the phone, etc. She calmed down and the nurse came and wheelchaired her out of the room. I don't know if it was the gruesome film that triggered the seizure or not.

 

[impatient95]

cancel class? Perhaps, ya goptta admit, this thing would make for a wierd context.

the bad thing is there was lack of emergency things. If this HAD been serious....

 

[majisto]

Originally posted by civicex@Feb 27 2004, 01:01 AM
A day back in high school, when my health class was showing a film on child birth (a baby bursting out of a woman's vagina), a classmate of mine had a seizure in class. She started shaking on her desk and then dropped to the floor shaking. Classmates ran for help and the teacher used the phone, etc. She calmed down and the nurse came and wheelchaired her out of the room. I don't know if it was the gruesome film that triggered the seizure or not.

The funny thing about seizures is that for most of them, we have absolutely no idea why they happen. The mis-conception is that anybody with seizures will go frantic when flashes of light occur. That's not true. Those are photo-electric seizures, and are actually quite rare.

However, stress causes seizures many times, and when your brain becomes hyper-activated, yes this can happen. Usually though, seizures happen when you are very tired, and your brain activity SLOWS down. This causes the mis-fire to occur more easily.

Hmm...I wonder if my brain needs a tune-up?

 

[spridget]

That is unfortunate. Sounds like you will take any excuse to cancel class though

Seizures are not that big of a deal. They are scary for people who have not seen them or dealt with them. The main thing to remember with a seizure patient is to prevent further injury. Many seizure patients, like Majisto stated, have an internal warnig system. The just know when one is about to happen. They can lay down and find a safe place before passing out. Do not restrain a seizure patient, DO NOT stick anything in their mouth. The greatest threat to a seizure patient is trauma from surrounding objects. Falling on the ground, bouncing their head on a hard surface, or biting their tongue are the main concerns.

I'm no expert, but I do work in an ER and have been an EMT for 5 years.

 

[Zack]

The most paramedics can do is start a lorazepam drip to "delay" or control the next seizure. Unless the patient suffers trauma from the environment, there's really nothing that can be done. The lifeguard did the right thing by clearing a space for him. Once a seizure is over, well, it's over. Just give the dude some water because he just had a 10 minute workout.

<--- Registered EMT-P

 

[majisto]

Originally posted by Zack@Feb 27 2004, 03:23 AM
Just give the dude some water because he just had a 10 minute workout.

Which is why my legs hurt so much. Seizures can really help build your body.