“So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the
sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by
demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.” (Matthew 4:24)
To begin, I am NOT a medical professional. All the information included in this post can
be found online. Please research the
included footnotes at the end of this article.
When it comes time to respond during an emergency, knowing what steps your medical team needs to
take can be crucial. A medical emergency can
happen anytime at any place. Many people
hesitate from providing help to a victim simply because they don’t know what to
do. By becoming more aware of how to
respond to a medical emergency, such as heart attacks, strokes, and seizures,
and choking, you could save lots of lives. These things happen when we least
expect it, and we need to be ready to respond.
In 1 Samuel 25:37, Nabal apparently had a heart attack. The preceding verse says he had been feasting
and was very drunk. If this was a
habitual pattern, it could have led to hardened arteries and a thrombosis.
Heart attacks are very common in our society. They used to be almost always fatal, but now
many heart attack sufferers survive and go on to live normal lives (often a
reformed normal with better lifestyle habits and perhaps a pacemaker). When someone attending church has a heart
attack, those who are there can make the difference by being the first
responders. An untrained person may be
able to initiate chest compressions going by what they have seen and read. Even better is when someone there has been
trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
In some cases, an automated external defibrillator (AED) is needed
to stop and restart a heart beating too rapidly to efficiently deliver
blood. It would be an advantage for your
church to have one and to have people trained in its use. It is important to know the signs of a heart
attack. It can begin with the person feeling faint or feeling pain in the
chest, shoulder, or arm. If he or she collapses, but is still breathing, it is
most likely a heart attack - they may also stop breathing.
The first goal of CPR is to force pump the heart to get blood to the brain
and other vital organs. That is why the chest compressions are directly over
the heart. The second goal is to keep
them breathing or start them breathing. If the compressions do not get them breathing
again, you need to use your CPR mask and force air into their windpipe
mouth-to-mouth (through the mask, of course).
In 1 Samuel 4:18 we read that, “When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli
fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he
died, for he was an old man and heavy.”
The cause of Eli losing his balance and falling could have been either a
stroke or a heart attack. Neither is surprising for his age and physical
condition. Strokes are really more
common than most people think.
In 2 Kings 4:18-37, the Shunnamite's son died of some kind of stroke. This was most likely heat stroke (vv. 19-20),
but ischemic strokes (a restriction in blood supply to tissues) and aneurysms
(an outward bulging, like a balloon, caused by an abnormal, weak spot on a
blood vessel wall) are not unheard-of in young men. Some are caused by inherited conditions, but
blood clots can follow severe bruising.
A stroke is caused by interruption of blood to a part of the brain. These are mostly ischemic (caused by a blood
clot blocking an artery). They can also
be caused by cerebral hemorrhaging (brain bleeding) which reduces blood
pressure in part of the brain. Many
times a person experiences a mini-stroke, technically a transient ischemic
attack (TIA). This is a temporary
interruption of blood flow, and it often goes unnoticed. Many people have had several TIAs without
knowing it. However, TIAs often precede
a full stroke.
It is important to know when someone is experiencing a stroke. Some of the signs may be slurred speech, one
side of the face partially paralyzed, numbness on one side of the body, or
trouble moving one arm or leg or one arm or foot. There is little we can do for the person, but
it is urgent to get medical help right away.
Meanwhile, make them comfortable.
There are drugs to stop the damage of a stroke. EMTs and paramedics may have them. They can also get the patient to a hospital
quickly. Quick administration of the drug is extremely important for recovery
from a stroke.
In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus cast out a demon that was making a boy have
seizures. Seizures are only one
manifestation of demonic possession. In
Matthew 4:24, seizures and paralysis are listed in addition to demon
possession. Not all seizures are caused
by demons. Most are caused by
epilepsy. Epilepsy has been around for a
long time and it is caused by brain damage, which can happen any time in life
from birth to old age.
How should we respond to
an epileptic seizure? There are a few things to
do and some to not do. Our goal is to keep them from harm. Two key resources are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [1] and from WebMD [2]. The first thing to do, if it is a
Grand Mal seizure (they lose consciousness), is to let the person down easy to
lie on the floor and turn them onto their side to help them breathe.
Remove anything hard or sharp so they don't get hurt. Loosen ties, necklaces, collars, and remove
their eyeglasses. Keep track of the
time, because if it lasts more than five minutes, you need to call 911. Then (for all seizures) stay with them until
it is over. Comfort them, be calm, check
for medical tag or bracelets, and make sure they can get home safely (get
someone to take them, even a taxi).
There are a few don'ts:
1) Don't hold them down.
2) Don't keep them from moving.
3) Don't insert anything into their mouth.
4) Don't give or offer them anything to eat or drink until the seizure is
completely over.
5) Don't try CPR – they will start breathing on their own.
About Partial Seizures:
There are partial seizures of which nearby people may be unaware. Certain stimuli can trigger reactions such as
headaches, nausea, blurred vision, light dizziness, etc.
Some of these stimuli are:
1) Visual stimuli: strobe lights, flashing lights, rapid repetitive
motion.
2) Audible stimuli: rhythmic clapping, extensive repetition of a beat,
certain rhythm patterns (especially off-beat), or certain sounds.
3) Tactile stimuli: rhythmic swaying, "drunken" motion, spinning,
or tumbling.
Some churches are scheduling services without these stimuli to accommodate
members and guests with epilepsy by trying to avoid triggering episodes at any
level from partial seizures to Grand Mal.
What is choking? An object gets into the windpipe (trachea) and
blocks the passage of air, meaning the person cannot breathe. This object can be anything, but most often
it is a piece of food or chewing gum.
People have choked on dentures when a part of the denture got into the
windpipe. You can choke on liquids, but that usually does not stop all
breathing. Choking may be described as
accidental, but some persons have conditions affecting their swallowing,
predisposing them to choking.
Some objects can be reached and pulled out, such as a denture or foil
leaf. However, a smaller object can be
too far down to reach and pull out. It
needs to be dislodged and expelled. This
is why Dr. Heimlich devised the method named after him. This is reaching around the person from
behind, putting a fist covered by the other hand just below the breastbone, and
jerking it in. This forces the diaphragm
up into the lung, pushing air suddenly up into the trachea. This should dislodge the choking item. Repeat if needed.
Training is needed for responding to heart attacks and stopped breathing
episodes. The two preferred sources of
CPR and AED training and certification are the American Red Cross [3] and the American Heart
Association [4]. Try to make this training available not only
to Church Safety Team members, but also to
teachers and group leaders. The Red
Cross also offers First Aid training.
If someone at your church has a heart attack, a stroke, a seizure, or is
choking, would you know what to do and how to do it? Find out what to do and get the needed
training and certification.
Be safe!
[1] National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health,
"Seizure First Aid," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Page last reviewed: January 10, 2019 [https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/about/first-aid.htm].
[2] WebMD Medical Reference,
"First Aid for Epilepsy Seizures," WebMD, Reviewed by Jennifer
Robinson, MD on August 07, 2019 [https://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/first-aid-seizures#1].
[3] American Red Cross, "Find a
Class" [https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class].
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