A few weeks back I got nearly scared out of my skin.
I was visiting a hindu temple outside Kuala Lumpur, which had about 500 very steep steps leading up to it. The temperature was a heady 30c, with about 90% humidity. In these conditions and being fairly fit, even I found reaching the top of the steps pretty hard going. As I finished my visit to the temple, I headed back down the steps, but soon came upon a slightly overweight man in his late 30s / early 40s who didn't look at all well. He was being tended by his wife, who was fanning him as he sat on the steps, head between knees. His skin was a pale green colour. I decided to hang about nearby for a bit, because I have some first-aid training and figured I might be useful if called upon. Pretty soon I looked across and saw the man was slumping, his head was rolling back and his eyes were doing pretty much the same. It looked awful. His wife started wailing 'HELP! HELP!', at which point I lept into action. I dashed off to try to find a phone, or someone with a phone, running up the steps past the couple as I did so. As I went past, I remember thinking that he looked pretty well gone. It was a horrible situation to be suddenly involved in - and I had this sickening feeling that any decision I made or didn't make at that point could somehow determine whether he lived or died.
After less than a minute or so I returned, still having been unable to find a phone, but then to my complete surprise I found the man was actually sitting up, still not looking well, but conscious nevertheless, and saying in broken English 'It is ok, I was just sleeping'.
I decided not to get any more involved at that point, but watched them at a distance for a few more minutes, just to ensure he hadn't deteriorated again. Eventually the couple walked off - up the steps.
Had he had a heart attack? Epileptic fit? WTF? What would've been best thing to do in this situation?
Our first aid instructor told of a few negatives he'd been involved in, but many positives, including one where he had to keep CPR up for nigh-on 20 minutes with another person (must have hurt) but the person made a full recovery (ambulance arrived etc).
Precordial Thump
