This isn't a freak show.

[Andara Bledin]

I've only been in the presence of someone having a seizure twice.

The second time was going before I encountered the scene and appeared to be handled, so I moved on.

The first time, however, was when I was one of the people in charge of the video gaming room at the convention I staff at, and this guy was watching a couple of others place a flashy (strobing) video game in the back of the room when he dropped and went into a full GM. Whoever had been patrolling the back of the place managed to usher people forward, tell another staffer to get the room cleared while he was moving chairs and tables out of the way. Someone at some point called the paramedics, who were on scene quickly (near LAX - great response time), and the rest of us stood outside the room and told people it was a medical emergency and we were closed until we were open again.

He'd never had a seizure before then and thankfully didn't hurt himself at all, but he was going to get himself a proper checking out by his regular doctor at the first opportunity. He said afterwards that he had no idea that anything was wrong; one minute he was watching the game and the next he was on his back looking up at the paramedics. We were just glad that it happened in a controlled environment with enough people on staff to deal with it.

^-.-^

[depechemodefan]

I rememeber one time in the library some guy fell down/had a seizure/had a stroke -I don't remember what happened- but the ems was called. Of course, a bunch of loser customers had to hang around and watch "the show". They weren't exactly in the way of ems, but they were rather close and were just watching. I would have told them to clear out, but they probably complain to my manager (like the always complain when things don't go their way) and I might be chewed out by the manager.

[fireheart]

Good for you, fireheart.

As far as I'm concerned, once the Official Trained People are on the scene, then unless it's clearly a major 'all-hands' disaster, it's time for bystanders to leave.

Fortunately most people took the hint as well-there was barely anyone hanging around when I wandered past.

[Der Cute]

That is the best course of action if there is nobody willing/able to provide assistance Never try more than you're trained for and you won't run into any sort of legal problems in a situation like this, as far as I'm aware.

I remember in one of my university psych classes a classmate had a grand mal seizure, and the people around her had no idea what was going on. The prof stood at the front of class and asked what had happened...and I ended up going to the girl's aid, explaining to everybody around that she was having a seizure. Once I got a bit of help to get her into the aisle, I got her as comfortable as I could on her side and stayed with her until the seizure ended and into her mom's care afterwards. Thankfully, the prof ended class and sent everybody else out because the girl didn't need an audience.

My dad is an epileptic and usually has grand mal when he does have them. So, growing up with this sort of thing meant that I knew how to handle it, thankfully. If you know the person you're dealing with is epileptic (most wear medical alert bracelets/necklaces) then you pretty much only need to call medical personnel if the seizure lasts more than about five minutes (according to my first aid training). If the person doesn't have some sort of medical alert jewelry then you get somebody to call medical personnel right away as you move the victim into a safe position.

Thank you! Thank you so much, we need the help.

Remember:
Talk to them quietly, slowly
No sudden movements
Away from furniture/sharp objects
Time it if you can
Nothing in mouth
Don't hold down or squish
If moving/walking, guide slowly
Make sure airway is cleared

sometimes post-ictal (after seizure time) is long. Depends on the sz and the person. Sometimes we need a buddy to get us to a safe spot to sit (after we're back on Earth) and just chill.

[Der Cute]

I only saw someone having a seizure once, if that's what it was. Most people hear the word "seizure" and automatically assume grand-mal (french: "Big Bad") which is the classic tonic-clonic kind of seizure, flopping around and all that, but this was an absence seizure, a.k.a. petit-mal ("Little Bad"). I was in class, back in college, and this one guy in the front row slowly stood up and started slowly spinning round. His face . . . ugh, he looked dead. No expression at all, eyes fixed forward. There was a slight bit of hubbub in the class, but the professor, who'd apparently seen something like this before (it was a psych class,after all) told the rest of the class to just ignore him and he'd be fine in a minute, and so it happened.

(edit: from my perspective, the major difference is that the drugs used to treat absence seizures are different from those used for other types. I wasn't yet a pharmacist then, of course.)

Shalom - that's a psycho-motor; complex partial seizure. I do those; it's kind of a zombie thing. My motors are working, I'm no longer at the helm, my body does it's own damn thing. Weird.
Primidone, lamictal, tegretol, depakote/depakene; sometimes oh..the one that makes you dumber than dirt... Those are for cp's I has those.

[raudf]

I had a garden center manager who had seizures. Hers were mostly under control, but she made damn sure that each of us knew about it and how to handle it when/if it happened while on the clock. She simply left the forklift and scissor-jack to the guys she trusted, even though in the year I was there, she never once had one.

Kinda sad when most of her instruction was "keep the customers out of the area."

And if there is a situation I can't work on directly... I'll be useful! I will be the privacy screen to reduce gawking, if someone else is handling it!

[NotAlBundy]

My nephew and I made a quick jaunt to NYC a couple years ago. Like, less than 24 hours. Flew in, did rapid site-seeing (Times Square, etc), had dinner, went to see a band, hung out at Penn Station, then took the first train back to Newark and flew home.

In between the bar for the band and Penn Station, we stopped at a McDonalds. Some poor guy started having a seizure while he was in line. The employees continued to work and ignore him until we (and several other customers) convinced them to call for an ambulance! I may not have known what to do, but I knew to call for help.

[Moosenogger]

I would be timid to help in that situation because I wouldn't know what the heck I was doing. The only thing I know about a seizure attack is to move everything away from the person so they can't hurt themselves.

It's good that you and your coworker are so well versed in how to handle the situation.

[Merriweather]

Not being trained, I'd never try to step in and do anything that could be considered treatment, etc (ecept call for help, obviously) but what I would do is anything that is a common sense action to keep a person from hurting themselves. Some things, to me, seem obvious and I can't believe someone would not step in and do - such as putting something (a pillow, folded coat, whatever) under a person's head if they're shaking or jerking, to keep them from banging their head on something hard. Or moving broken glass, etc. out of the way if they broke something in falling. Or removing a heavy object their arm might knock over, etc.

For many epileptics, making them more comfortable/safe til the seisure is over is all that is needed anyway. My aunt had epilepsy all her life, unfortunately treated by the small town local doctor the family had used for decades (and his treatments were decades behind the times - she took the same meds for 30 or 40 years, in spite of drastic improvements during those years). Anyway, most of the family used the old dated term of "falling out", as in "aunty had a falling out yesterday", or "we went to town, but aunty fell out". Basically, she went sort of catatonic for a few minutes - if sitting, she usually didn't even fall off her chair. Occasionally she had larger seizures, but more often the small ones.

One of my daughter's friends in high school had epilepsy, she matter of factly told our daughter how to best make her comfortable if she had one, and about how long it usually lasted, no need to call help unless something unusual happened. She used to go with us on day trips quite often, it wasn't really a problem. Except wanting to smack the occasional gawker.

[Seshat]

Good for you, fireheart.

As far as I'm concerned, once the Official Trained People are on the scene, then unless it's clearly a major 'all-hands' disaster, it's time for bystanders to leave.

Back to the OP: I think it's a sorry state of affairs when people are too afraid of being sued to help in a situation of need. But if they're not going to help, they should leave. Get out of the way of the people who are helping.

[Lady Legira]

I only saw someone having a seizure once, if that's what it was. Most people hear the word "seizure" and automatically assume grand-mal (french: "Big Bad") which is the classic tonic-clonic kind of seizure, flopping around and all that, but this was an absence seizure, a.k.a. petit-mal ("Little Bad"). I was in class, back in college, and this one guy in the front row slowly stood up and started slowly spinning round. His face . . . ugh, he looked dead. No expression at all, eyes fixed forward. There was a slight bit of hubbub in the class, but the professor, who'd apparently seen something like this before (it was a psych class,after all) told the rest of the class to just ignore him and he'd be fine in a minute, and so it happened.

My boyfriend has both types (uncontrollable epilepsy). We've been going out for just over 2 years. He's currently having more absence then tonic-clonic which I ended up dealing with last week while he was staying at mine. It's a weird thing to see, in my boyfriends case he complained of feeling dizzy and assumed it was his sugar levels (he has issues with low sugar) and then just dropped to his knees. Luckily I was stood in front of him when started falling forward. I just causally yelled to my sister to fetch a pillow and dropped his head onto it. Came round a couple of minutes later and we just let him rest while his head came back to him and fed him some painkillers for a post seizure headache. Easy as.


Well except that was only the 2nd seizure I've seen him have. Due the fact stress is one of his triggers for him (the 1st was after he moved) and he relaxes a lot around me, I try to keep him in a low stress environment. The fact I've read a lot about how to deal with seizures, taken a few first aid classes in the past and the fact my I'd seen my grandad having full strokes and TIAs helped. Funny what life throws at you.

[Shalom]

I only saw someone having a seizure once, if that's what it was. Most people hear the word "seizure" and automatically assume grand-mal (french: "Big Bad") which is the classic tonic-clonic kind of seizure, flopping around and all that, but this was an absence seizure, a.k.a. petit-mal ("Little Bad"). I was in class, back in college, and this one guy in the front row slowly stood up and started slowly spinning round. His face . . . ugh, he looked dead. No expression at all, eyes fixed forward. There was a slight bit of hubbub in the class, but the professor, who'd apparently seen something like this before (it was a psych class,after all) told the rest of the class to just ignore him and he'd be fine in a minute, and so it happened.

(edit: from my perspective, the major difference is that the drugs used to treat absence seizures are different from those used for other types. I wasn't yet a pharmacist then, of course.)

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I think the right thing to do is to help, regardless of a possible lawsuit. Because the person lying on the floor will possibly be you some day.

(And how would you know they wouldn't sure you for not helping?)

[Zellie Crescent]

My mom has epilepsy, the only time I saw her having a seizure I was 8 years old. I immediately called for an ambulance I was too young to know what to do/what not to do.

[fireheart]

I think there's one time I caught someone having a seizure. Thankfully there were paramedics and they'd put a screen up so she could have some dignity while she was having her seizure. She was in a wheelchair, but I could sort of see around the back of the screen (it was one of those tri-fold ones). That said, I only caught a glimpse and moved on. I didn't cluster around it like a freak show. >.>