Two Year Old Suffers Seizure, Next Door
 

So, what happened while you were posting about Methyl Ethyl Ketone?

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My neighbor's (yes, that neighbor) wife POUNDED my front door down, I open the door and she screams "She's having a seizure, she's not breathing! Help her!!!"

I took the little girl from her and damn near fainted. She was stiff as a board, and cold to the touch. I kicked my computer chair across the room to make space for whatever I was about to do to try to save this little girl. About the time I got her on the floor, she loosened up some and I could her gasp for air. Which was good, because I completely blanked on child CPR. I defaulted back to adult CPR, which would have been better than nothing. Her airway was clear, she hadn't swallowed her tongue, so I did the best thing I could think of, nothing. She loosened up more, and was breathing fairly well, looking around wondering what the hell was going on. Then the ambulamps arrived and took the girl and the neighbor's wife to the horsepital, Momdigr drove the neighbor kids to the hospital for their mother, cuz there was nobody to watch them.

I'm upset with myself for not remembering the steps for child CPR. Years ago I was certified in CPR. And I couldn't remember. I don't forget stuff. And I couldn't remember.

Anyway, she seemed to be ok and improving every minute the last I saw of her. The ambulance arrived "signal 9" they calls it 'round here. Lights flashing, foot on the floor, tire-squall rounding the corner at the end of the street. When they left, they waited for traffic at the end of the street, so they weren't too concerned, and if they ain't, I ain't.

Total elapsed time: Less than eight minutes.

(Off to google Child CPR)



Anybody got a Xanax?

Lorazepam OK? ;)

Yikes, grav. Those sorts of things, though, you practice until it's second nature and if you haven't done it for a while and are put into a tense situation like that it's no wonder you went blank. You did good though! Whew...my hearts racing a little FOR you. :)

Sounds like what my son used to have several times a day. If he bumped his head, or went to cry, he would go stiff, stop breathing and his hands would turn in. His eyes would roll back in his head, and he would turn a nasty colour of blue/grey around the eyes, lips, fingers etc...3 years of ambulances and drs and specialists later we got a diagnosis of "cerebril hypoxic crisis, inducing clonic/tonic sezures"

During the seizure there is little you can do. A splash of water can bring them out of it sometimes... but more often then not, simply timing the seizure and breathing into their lungs is all you should and can do. Full CPR can cause more damage as their lungs are so stiff from the seizure something can go wrong, or so they told us 18 months AFTER we started doing it each time. What worked for us was unusual, but effective. He went to the chiropractor for a month of adjustments, and never had a seizure after that.

If this is her first seizure, suggest to the neighbour to mention clonic/tonic seizures and cerebril hypoxic crisis. It may be something completely different, but it may help speed up the diagnosis time. These seizures are heart stopping frightening, as your child looks blue, and dead. Horrifying for anyone to see!

Good job helping out! Some would not be able to handle themselves in a situation like that.

Yes. I forget how much detail I posted about the 2 year old here who went into seizure. The baby here was unlucky enough to be in the bathtub when she seized so she may have inhaled a little water. The amberlamps people here don't take any chances and so they immobilized her and medevac'd her to the city.

At the time I thought I heard one of the docs say "femeral seizure" but maybe it was "ephemeral seizure" or something else.

That's just about how it was. Her little hands were balled into fists tight as a wet knot. This was neighbor wife's niece, and it was the girl's second seizure. I'll pass along the info, thanks, Jaydaan.

Turns out, I would have done just about everything right CPR-wise, except my positioning would have been a little off. One site said to orient more over the breast bone for a child 1-8 yrs old.

I'm fixing to find, and remove, that damned "Push Here To Add Drama" button.

@ UT: Febrile?

My niece Amelia went into 'febrile convulsions' once when she had chest infection that ramped up into pneumonia (long story, doctor not believing anxious mom, waving it off as nothing etc). Ramrod stiff, jaws clamped together, tongue protruding, not breathing, blue etc.

Holy shit Grav. That's scary.

I took child CPR too, and damn if I can remember it. They changed all the rules a year or so anyway. I haven't gotten re-certified since then, but I think you just pump like crazy and don't breath for 'em.

New shorts, Grav?

UT, I would think Dana's right, the word was likely "febrile", we've heard that word a lot, back in the day. It's thought to be related to temperature. glatt, you're right, the new rules are no rescue breathing, just chest compressions. I don't know about cerebral hypoxic crisis Jaydaan, but I'm very, very happy you found a way to make the seizures stop.

A kid with seizures is as scary as anything I've ever experienced. SonofV started having seizures almost fifteen years ago. Getting them under control with the right combination of medicine, diet, rest and exercise, all while he grows and grows is like trying to hit a moving target. Your neighbor is in for a bumpy ride.

During the seizure, there is little you can do to stop or shorten the seizure. What you *can do* is make sure they are as safe as possible while it's happening. They can't "swallow their tongue", that's just not possible. Making sure their airway is open is a good idea, during and after. For this, the recovery position is a good way to go. Lying on their side with their arms arranged so that the head's supported and the torso's kept from rolling forward, the upper leg bent to keep the lower body stable. Don't force them, don't let them thrash so that they hurt themselves. Don't put anything in their mouth. Stand by and wait for it to end. Our doctor told us (YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY) that unless the seizure lasts more than a minute or two by the clock, there was no need to call 911. This was helpful since SonofV had *a lot* of seizures. We eventually became less freaked out by them. I still clearly remember the terror I felt at the beginning though. Good job for you to help. Good man.

Well done Grav - at least you ACTED calm cool & collected. That in itself seems to have helped.

and like a good neighbor, Gravdigr's there! Holy stress Batman! :eek:

I think a lot of people would have blanked in that situation; you went from zero to super stress inside of what, a few seconds? I'm sure you did the best you could and the girl will be okay.
I've never known anyone to have seizures so this whole thread kind of freaks me out. Enlightening, though.

Nowadays, as many as 1 in 25 children will have at least one febrile seizure.

In the past, this data was not tracked well and there have been no studies to compare it. But go ask your grandmother, or someone else her age: did she know any child who had a seizure? Even one? Neighbors, classmates, coworkers' children, anything? Ask an older teacher: did she ever see or hear about a child having a seizure in the classroom, in all her decades of teaching? Our school nurse told me they handle at least 2 or 3 a year, from different children, and usually it's the child's first seizure.

Something's going wrong right in front of us.

...ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive...

I guess the thinking is that there's enough oxygen still in the blood, ya just gotta circulate that blood.

One. One second. When I opened the door and saw that little girl planking in the neighbor's arms I about had a freaking cow!

The neighbor girl was absolutely shitting kittens, she was beyond hysterical.

But let me tell you about her kids. You'll recall this happened to her niece she was babysitting...she has two kids, a boy about 11-12, and a girl about 8-9. When all this started going down, Boy grabs his cell phone, calls 911 and talks the dispatcher through what's happening. And Girl? Girl has Mommy's purse and car keys and is waiting by the car with the door open!

I tell ya, I think those kids were the most composed of any of us.

BTW, I've since learned her name is Madeleine.

And she's about as cute a little girl as you've ever seen.