A migrant worker who suffered a seizure while on a Mass Rapid Transit train in Singapore was assisted by kindhearted commuters and station officers in time to save him from injury.
At 10am on Sunday, a 39-year-old netizen named Alice, a model by employment, noted the incident on social media, Lianhe Wanbao (Singapore) reported.
While she was heading to Little India MRT Station on a North-South Line train, a foreign man sitting opposite her suddenly fell to the floor with uncontrollable jerking and shaking, possibly from an epileptic seizure.
A female commuter quickly pressed the emergency call button, informing the train driver of the incident. Another migrant worker came over to accompany the patient.
As soon as the train arrived at the next stop, an MRT station officer dashed into the compartment, conducted a quick examination of the patient and then laid him on a bench on the station platform with the assistance of the other migrant worker.
The train services were barely interrupted and resumed right away.
Alice noted that she was proud of the female commuter for pressing the call button without hesitation, and the kind assistance given by the migrant worker and the MRT station officer.
Since abuse of the MRT emergency call button entails a S$5,000 (US$3,680) fine, many commuters failed to respond to the incident as they were uncertain whether it was the right moment to call for help, the netizen wrote.
Seizures are bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works, and patients react in different ways, depending on which part of the brain is involved.
A family-medicine practitioner told the newspaper that when people encounter someone who is undergoing a seizure, they should stay calm and ease the patient to the floor and protect him or her from injury by clearing the area around the person of anything hard or sharp.
Loosen any ties or garments such patients are wearing so they can breathe more easily, and they will usually regain consciousness 10 to 20 minutes after a seizure.