This is very perturbing

[epileric]

I can't believe what this guy did.

The Epilepsy Support Centre is weighing in on hockey player Mike Danton's recent account of how he rushed to the aid of a convulsing teammate at a Swedish game, warning that he didn't use standard seizure first aid and it could have turned out badly.

On his blog, Danton said he jammed his fingers into the mouth of teammate Marcus Bengtsson and clawed his tongue.

But a spokesperson for the Epilepsy Support Centre says this is not standard seizure first aid, and such a method can be "incredibly dangerous."

Mike Danton's epilepsy 'rescue' flawed

[BlueSkies2220]

Thankfully the Ep association had their say and described what people should NEVER do during a situation like that, and what the proper procedure is.

[Nakamova]

There should be some kind of national public service announcement during big TV events explaining the RIGHT thing to do.

[Bernard]

Good intentions + misconception / misinformation = bad decision(s)

[neil129]

Good intentions + misconception / misinformation = bad decision(s)

Tell me about it,i was doing a first responder course a while back and we were asked had anyone seen someone have a seizure.This guy said yes so he was asked what he did,he in turn explained how he jammed a wallet in the guys mouth!?! How he managed this i have no idea,but ive never really got the mental picture out of my head,strange days we live in.

[Trinity]

You know, I feel kinda bad for the guy. I mean, he did what he knew to do to help and the guy he helped was okay. He said thank you for coming to his aide and I think that is what is the most important thing. Sure he did the wrong thing but not intentionally. No matter how many times my father was told not to put anything in my mouth during a seizure he always did put his hands in and i'm sure that if I had a tonic-clonic now he still would. Sure he's had his fingers bit plenty of times and so did my sister when she repeated the same thing but they acted out of concern.
I am all for promoting knowledge and awareness about what one should do during an emergency such as this but how many people would break someones ribs doing CPR or something else - I can't think at the moment. The point is he acted on the knowledge he had and I don't think you can expect everyone is going to know the best way to react in every situation.
On the other hand I was very upset once when I was doing surf lifesaving and asked the instructor what happens if someone is having a seizure in the water. I was told that in that case you should tell the person to calm down and that you aren't going to help them until they calm down. Let's say I went all kinds of psycho on this 'instructor' screaming at him in front of hundreds of people. I kinda feel sorry for him now thinking about it - he was completely ignorant as he obviously thought that a seizure could simple be controlled.

[Rae1889]

Trinity, its that those "good intentions" but bad information can be harmful, if not fatal. If we didn't speak up, someone who reads this story could come across this situation and jam something else in the persons mouth and either suffocate them, cause them to choke on pieces of whatever broke off the object or drown in their own saliva/blood/vomit because the fluids can't escape their mouth when its bloke. The person seizuring could die and it would be the fault of the person doing the first aid. So yes, this is a nig deal.

[Trinity]

Well yeah it's a big deal - I don't think I said it wasn't so no need to get angry at me. My point is that I do feel badly for the guy because nobody except the guy he helped seemed to thank him for what he tried to do. If I tried to help someone and made a mistake - a genuine mistake - I sure as hell would hope that the people around would appreciate the fact that I tried to do something at all because i'd be miserable to the point of not wanting to help again. I am sure that if he were in the situation again with the knowledge he's hopefully gained he'll actually do the right thing. Educate certainly and i'm glad the Epilepsy Association had their say but also I think we should be commending the guy for being willing to help out when others obviously didn't.

[survivor]

Good intentions + misconception / misinformation = bad decision(s)

Well said! But this misconceptions have to be removed!

[Cint]

Good intentions + misconception / misinformation = bad decision(s)

Well said! But this misconceptions have to be removed!

Please explain. Epilepsy is misconceived many times. One time I was in Barnes & Noble bookstore and witnessed a nice young fellow having a tonic clonic seizure. A women sitting next to me said, "he must be on drugs." I was taken back by her statement and asked her why she made such a presumptuous statement. And then asked her if I looked like I was on drugs, then went over to help the young guy. When he recovered, I made sure he was ok. He said he was and that he had seizures before, so he wasn't driving and someone was on their way to pick him up. And the many times I've had tonic clonic seizures in public, afterwards, people look at me like I'm from Mars! So you see, it is still misconceived.
And sometimes if I tell folks I have epilepsy, they say, "you don't look like you have epilepsy." What is one with epilepsy supposed to "look" like?

[CathyAnn31]

Trinity, its that those "good intentions" but bad information can be harmful, if not fatal. If we didn't speak up, someone who reads this story could come across this situation and jam something else in the persons mouth and either suffocate them, cause them to choke on pieces of whatever broke off the object or drown in their own saliva/blood/vomit because the fluids can't escape their mouth when its bloke. The person seizuring could die and it would be the fault of the person doing the first aid. So yes, this is a nig deal.

When did you learn seizure first aid? Have you always known those "good intentions"? I know I was taught first aid growing up, but I don't remember any classroom discussions of how to handle seizures specifically until last year when I went thru an updated course for my job.. Me, like many others, grew up only knowing of those misconceptions we hear about.

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I know I wasn't born with the proper knowledge of what to do when you see someone having a seizure. To be honest, it probably would have scared the crap out of me witnessing one! I only began researching epilepsy when I was first diagnosed 3 yrs ago. I read a little bit 20 years ago when my mom told me about the psychomotor form I had as a child but I never dug very deep with my reading.

I absolutely do wish there was more awareness. And I wish it started young. Along with other disorders like diabetes....

I agree 100% with what Bernard said:

Good intentions + misconception / misinformation = bad decision(s)