ROADSIDE EMERGENCY
In 1986, when my son was in 3rd standard I had taken him for a haircut to a saloon near Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus stand, Cochin. When we were returning, we saw a man at the bus bay surrounded by passengers. Probably, the onlookers were ignoring him taking him as a drunkard.
We reached him. There was no smell of alcohol from the man lying on the ground. He was a middle aged man apparently in distress. When I told the crowd that the man is in epileptic fits, the onlookers were trying to make the man smell their shoes, to make him hold metallic objects like key rings etc. I politely asked them not to do anything but to get me something soft materials like clothes to keep the man’s head fixed to minimize head movement. They readily took out their towels, dhotis, etc. from their baggage and we bundled those clothes and put them on the sides of his head as pillows. After a couple of minutes, the fits subsided. I turned the man on the right side and cleared his mouth off froth and secretions with my kerchief. The man started breathing normally, but was still unconscious. For further management, I took him to the hospital where I was working along with two volunteers as attendants out of the onlookers.
What you can do to help someone who is having seizures:
- Ease the person to the floor.
- Put something soft like a folded jacket, towel etc. on the sides of the head to keep the head steady during seizures.
- Loosen ties or anything around neck that may make it hard to breathe.
- Remove eyeglasses, if any.
- Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp. This can prevent injury.
- After settling of the seizure, turn the person gently onto one side. This will help him breathe.
- Take the patient to the nearest hospital.
Don’t do the following :
- Do not try to stop the person’s movements.
- Do not insert anything in the person’s mouth. A person having a seizure cannot swallow his or her tongue. Inserting anything in his mouth can only cause injury to him.
- Do not try to give mouth-to-mouth breaths (like CPR). People usually start breathing again on their own after a seizure.
- Do not offer the person water or food until he or she is fully awake and alert.
The images are only representatives, not real.
[Dr. (Major) B. C. Nayak is an Anaesthetist who did his MBBS from MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Odisha. He is an MD from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune and an FCCP from the College of Chest Physicians New Delhi. He served in Indian Army for ten years (1975-1985) and had a stint of five years in the Royal Army of Muscat. Since 1993 he is working as the Chief Consultant Anaesthetist, Emergency and Critical Care Medicine at the Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital, Cochin]
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