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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Just witnessed someone having a seizure....
I am so shaken up. Not only did they have a seizure, but they fell FACE FIRST onto cement. I was at a networking event and was shaving someone's head for charity when it happened. He had been right in front watching (it was his friend I was shaving) and taking pictures. All of sudden it sounded like he was coughing pretty violently and he fell forward.
Oh my gosh, I cannot get the sound of the smack on the ground or the sight of all of the blood out of my head. I seriously need to take a CPR class - I felt helpless. What a horrible end to an event that was supposed to be so positive. 
Re: Just witnessed someone having a seizure....
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Oh my gosh, that's scary! I would be shaken up as well if I had witnessed that. I hope he'll be okay.
That is so scary! Hope they will be ok.
I remember in high school, a girl that sat a couple seats up from me, fell completely backwards with her desk and all, hitting the back of her head on the hard cement tiile flooring. She was taken good care of, but it's something you will never forget.
I am so sorry...my XH is eplileptic and I know how terrifying it can be to witness a seizure (at it's worst they'd happen 2-3 times a week with my XH). I actually developed some sort of PTSD due to that time in my life...to this day if J or my mom drops something in the shower (like the bottle of shampoo) I go into "fight or flight" mode.
Hopefully that guy is okay...it's especially scary when they fall like that because it can be serious with an injury. FWIW, the best thing you can do for someone seizing (while waiting for medical help) is to clear the area so they cannot hurt themselves further and roll them on their side, if possible, to help clear their airway. It also can help to talk to the person...I'd always repeat in a calm tone, "It's okay, you're okay..." because when they come to they can be disoriented and scared, especially if they've caused a scene and tons of people are hovered around them and staring.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
that's good information to know - thanks Lori!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
OMG how scary! I wouldn't know what to do either (thanks for the info, Lori!).
It's not knowing that's made me think that Ben and I should take an infant CPR class or something...because I just can't imagine how scared I'd be if something happened to one of our babies and I didn't know what to do.
Cerclage placed @ 21w6d due to CI (IC)
Cerclage placed @ 21w6d due to CI (IC)
So scary and I hope he's OK. I can sympathize, last year a guy had a seizure during an interview I was conducting. He just stopped answering the questions, and I couldn't tell what was going on. Then the seizure hit. Ditto on what Lori said - all you can do is make sure they're safe from harming themselves or others and call 911 (e.g. my guy was in a chair so we laid him on the floor which was not easy as he was flailing pretty hard). I remember just feeling exhausted after the experience, just drained from all the adrenaline. Don't beat yourself up about feeling helpless - I'm sure you did the best you can (really, most situations call for dialing 911). Definitely taking a First Aid class is a good thing to know anyway - I've had to perform CPR on someone, too, and I was glad for the training.
| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
That is so scary! I watched my brother have a seizure when he was a baby (I was 8) and I still remember it like it was yesterday.
That's good that you want to take a CPR class - if nothing else, it might help you feel more calm knowing what to do. However, calling 9-1-1 is always a good idea.
Sorry you had to go through that!
Lisa, I highly recommend it if you can find one! We took ours at the hospital we delivered at.
I love Hawaii!
Tara & Ian . 4/24/2008 . The Kahala Planning . Married
Oh, Lori, I can't imagine going through that with someone close to you. So scary.
What you mentioned to do in this situation is exactly what a couple people did, so I'm glad they knew this. I kept worrying about getting something into his mouth, but I wasn't sure if that was right to do, but I was scared of the possibility that he'd have trouble with his tongue. He did have some friends there that knew his wife as well so they called her while 2 others called 911. After the seizure he passed out which scared the crap out of me - I just kept wondering is someone would know what to do if he stopped breathing. His friends did tell the paramedics that he'd had gastric bypass surgery and was on medication. Don't know if that was a contributing factor or not, but scary nonetheless.
I just can't get him out of my head. I sure hope he's okay today. I left as soon as the paramedics got there - I just kept thinking that the last thing he needed was a bunch of people standing around staring at him. Poor guy.
Oh Amy, I felt so bad for you last night when you texted me. J and I were talking about it and how scary a moment like that is.
I had a roommate that had epilepsy since he was a child. He could feel one coming on and was usually good about telling his girlfriend that he needed her. However, one day he was home alone. My sister had come to my house and was watching TV while she waited for me to come home. My roommate didn't know her well, other than a name. Well all of a sudden, he felt a seizure coming and came downstairs and asked my sister to take him to the hospital. So there they went, nearly complete strangers. I came home to an empty house wondering where she was. To this day he still talks about that and wonders what would happened had she not been there day. They became such good friends after. Amazing how something like that can bring 2 people together!Ditto. DH and I both went through CPR training, but we need to refresh before baby arrives. Our friend's baby stopped breathing at home TWICE during her first few months, and she's OK thanks to her family knowing CPR. That really woke us up!
Amy, what a scary situation. It's hard to get those images and sounds out of your mind...
Lori, I just watched an old Dr. Oz show that we DVR'd and this exact advice is what he discussed when there was a scenerio about what to do if someone was having a seizure. There was someone acting out the seizure activity and he was teaching the audience member to clear the area to ensure the person was safe and roll them their side.
He advised, though, not to put anything in their mouth because the tongue naturrally retracts during the seizure. He said more injury is done when people try to put something in the person's mouth.
nothing in the mouth of an unconscious person, even if they are diabetic and you know they need sugar. (I once had to dig a snickers bar out of a patient's mouth, well meaning but caused lots of problems. Plus I couldn't eat snickers for months)
CPR is a great skill to have and most hospitals offer cpr and small first aid courses. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3012360
I wish I could remember the name of the town where an instructor recently told me that 80% of people there had taken CPR classes.
I just got an update on the guy who had the seizure. He's home resting, and his CT scan was clear but he's seeing a neurologist next week. He broke his nose in 2 places, cut his lip, and has quite the goose egg on his head. They think his seizure may have been caused by sleep deprivation. WTF?? I didn't even know that was possible! I'm learning all kinds of things from this horrible experience.
And, I'm signed up for a CPR class next Saturday.
And, oh poor guy, sounds like his face got pretty banged up.
Yes that can be a trigger (it was for my XH), as well as low blood sugar, strobe lights, etc.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
I'm definitely going to check with our local ambulance group (that's who provides the training in our area). I think it's something like $100 a person, which is totally worth it to me. I am a little concerned that I may not be mobile enough to be able to do the CPR practice stuff (bending over is the stuff of dreams for me), so I might ask them about that too.