If you find some body having a fit...?

Question

What is the correct course of action?

I went home for lunch today, as I live in a cul de sac, there was no one around but 3 young girls sitting on the pavement obviously 'bunking' off their classes.

As I got out of the car 2 of the girls became hysterical as the 3rd girl was having a fit, I ran over to the girl but she was banging her head against the concrete so I tried to cushion her head with a coat. At this point my neighbour came out and while I did my best to comfort the girl he called for an ambulance. Once her fit finished I managed to put her in the recovery position.

Does anyone have any experience of this and what is the best way to help? I kind of felt I wasnt doing enough.

Answer 1

You totally did the right thing! It is best to allow the fit to happen without any restraint...make the area safe and if possible put something soft under the head. NEVER put a spoon or anything in the mouth...people used to do this to stop tongues being bitten...but this rarely happens and it could interfere with breathing.. After the fit, make a note of how long it lasted to tell the ambulance crew, put in recovery position and check to make sure airway is clear and breathing continues well.

Answer 2

My father had a terminal brain tumour and a side effect was fits.

You did exactly the right thing in putting a cushion under her head, the first fit my father had so so violent that he bounced so much in the chair he was in that he broke his glasses.

When someone fits firstly you should call for an ambulance and in the mean time you should time how long the fit is going on for, when someone fits their lungs and rib cage also go into spasm and can make breathing difficult. You need to remove anything on the person or around the person that can cause harm whilst the person is convulsing like glasses, neck tie and objects that the person can bash their head against like chairs. If possible get the person into a recovery position. If the person stops fitting it is also important not to move them until medical help arrives.

Well done for what you did, not allot of people these days would have done so much.

Answer 3

If the fit that you are referring to was a seizure, then what you did was absolutely correct.

When someone is having a seizure, you want to protect them from injury. The coat was a brilliant idea. Other than that, you let the seizure occur and call an ambulance. Many folks who have seizures do not breath well during the event. Nothing an outsider can do will stop this. Remember, never hold them down. Support the head and call for help. NEVER put something in their mouth: this can cause undue suffocation. Hard object will break the teeth. (the muscle contractions during seizures are extememly powerful: if they bite down on a hard object, you'll do more harm). They often bite themselves, but you should not stop it. They will not swallow their tongue. If the seizure doesn't stop, then medical professionals can adminsiter medicine. These medicines are not available except from doctors, etc.

You were there to protect her and to call for help. You did a world of good, and exactly what is recommended. Any more action could cause more harm than good, so your judgment was correct. Congrats on making a difference.

Answer 4

You did exactly the right thing. Well done.
A lot of people would try to restrain them and maybe even put things in their mouth to stop them biting their tongue. This is completely wrong.
Firstly ,send for an ambulance.
Then, all you need to do is to make sure that they don't hurt themselves by banging in to things and then put them in the recovery position when they stop fitting.
It is, however, important to tell them what has happened when they come round and they will probably have no idea and will be very disorientated. You should also tell them how long they were fitting for as this may be information that they need to tell their doctor.
The other thing you can do for them is to try and make sure that they get as much privacy as possible as they may soil themselves during the fit and the last thing they need is to become a public spectacle anyway.

Answer 5

My ex boyfriend had mild epilepsy - meaning he only ever had fits when he was asleep, which was a bit disconcerting for me!! lol

Basically, from my experience, there is nothing much you can do. Just make sure their head is cushioned, they're as comfortable as they can be and that they can breathe easily. Afterwards, whenever my ex had fallen out of bed, I would try and get him back into bed again. He was disorientated and didn't have a clue what was going on. I also used to stay up for the next few hours to make sure it didn't happen again and he wasn't sick or anything.

This is just my experience, if there is anyone else with more information, it would be useful to know for the future.

Answer 6

Congratulations. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. Taking care of her head was the only thing you could do in that situation. You followed exactly the right procedure which was to ensure her head was protected, wait until the fit stopped and put her in the recovery position. With the ambulance on the way, the only other thing to do whilst you waited was just to check her body for any injuries.

Answer 7

Your action were correct and appropriate protecting the head and letting her get on with it, using the recovery position and your neighbour calling an ambulance, well done. Often when people have seizures they become incontinent so covering their embarrasment is the only other think. But well done. Why not enrol in a first aid cours to reasssure yourself.

Answer 8

All you do is make sure they can't hurt themselves, and it seems that is what you did, and put in recovery position if needed after they come out of it.

You don't stop them thrashing about, that can make things worse as they can injure both themselves and you.

You don't try to clear their airway, unless they are choking, too many people have lost fingers this way.

HOWEVER

If they are know to be prone to fits, as long as they are petit-mal, you don't phone an ambulance (but this only works if someone who knows their history is there) - you can also check for medi-tags to see if there is a history of seizures as this will tell you how bad they have them.


DO NOT DO WHAT DOOR32 SAID - YOU DO NOT PUT ANYTHING AT ALL IN THEIR MOUTH

Answer 9

Make sure they can't hurt themselves...move anything that could cause injury.Keep an eye on them .Loosen clothing around his neck and if possible ,protect his head.when convulsions cease place him in the recovery position.(The way to make sure they don't 'swallow' their tongue is to tilt the head backwards NOT to stick something in the mouth.) Check breathing and pulse and be prepared to recussitate if necessary.Stay with him until he is fully recovered.
IF he is unconcious for more that ten minutes or convulsing for more than five,or is unaware of his condition dial 999 and ask for an ambulance.Note the time and duration of the fit.

Answer 10

You did exactly what you should have done...good job. It sounds like she was having a seizure and I've never had to help someone having one, but I've seen my dad(a Neurologist) do it. He rolled the girl to her right side, used his thumbs to push her jaw forward and stuck his middle and ring finger in between her back teeth. Until she stopped convulsing and the ambulance got there. You did the right thing and she's probably one less concussion because you kept your head.