I recently got back into working in special education classrooms after a couple years away, and on day two, my client had a massive seizure, and I was the first person to identify it, and provide basic life saving support until properly trained staff were able to assist with medications/further aid.
I had not been properly trained on how to handle a major seizure but I was able to follow instructions from staff and re-assure my client, and one thing that complicated this was that my client and his family are primarily a spanish speaking family, so I tried my best to to attempt to do all this while speaking in Spanish and thinking in English. (A translator was on-site throughout this medical emergency thankfully)
Once the parent arrived with medication I had to tap out — providing twenty minutes of care and not seeing improvement did a number on me. I took five minutes to compose myself while advanced medical aid was administered. Eventually I came back In proximity to my client to provide comfort while we waited out the time it took for medication to kick in, and the client was able to be taken home by his mother.
That. Is. Terrifying. To somebody who doesn’t really have that training to be the first on scene? Oh man oh man. The outcome was probably among the better outcomes that could have happened, and I heard nothing but praise from staff the rest of the week, now… I just gotta believe it and believe in it.
Welcome to Heart Support, greatkeith360,
Medical emergencies, especially seizures, are often terrifying and never easy to deal with, your feelings are completely valid. You did the best you could, exceeding what was expected of you. I’m sure many would have panicked but you stayed calm and followed instructions to keep the client safe, that alone makes me proud of you. You even returned to him to keep him comfortable, which shows how you are such a caring person. I hope writing it all down helped you cool down and process the chaos. I would encourage you to take a moment for yourself because in any situation you are number one. Once again I want to say that you are an amazing person and your actions made the outcome better.
Here for you,
-Gremlin
I am glad that it reminded you of your full potential, but I wish that reminder didn’t come at the cost of your mental health. How are you feeling right now?
I’m done working at that school (I was a sub) and everything ended alright so I am switching my focus to that — the outcomes and the positives. It is taking a little longer than I thought it would to decompress, so I am taking more time for myself today to get through the circumstance. It’s been helpful.
Good to know that you both are okay. It often takes longer than it seems to cool off and re center yourself and that’s fine. Take all the time you need, that was really stressful.
What a frightening and shocking experience it must have been for you. Having this high responsibility suddenly put into your hands without being properly prepared for it… emergency situations like this one can be traumatizing in themselves, even for people who are trained. I’m so very glad to see that you are taking time for yourself, but also that you decided to write about it here. These are very healthy ways to give yourself time and space to process all the emotions that the situation brought up very quickly.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping them the way you did. You could have reacted in many different ways but you have been there, present, alert and supportive, which is absolutely beautiful and inspiring. You’ve done what was right and you can be confident that the staff saw it as well. Now is time to rest, process and take care of yourself.
Thank you for your kind words… it was a massive stress test but I got the client through to the next day. I’m very happy for that outcome, and now I am working on finding inner peace to be confident that I can handle a situation like that with more grace and less holy hell next time.
From ManekiNeko: That is so huge, it can be terrifying indeed! There’s a lot of people who don’t have any first aid training and I know the stress and terror that can grip people in those situations. You were able to act and I commend you for that. Sometimes fear has a greater hold, and that’s nothing to feel ashamed about, but man i think you can safely accept the praise given for allowing your thoughts to clear and for allowing yourself to be able to follow those instructions.