COVINGTON — Anne Hendrickson expected to see an ambulance waiting when the TANK bus she was riding Tuesday morning pulled off Interstate 75 at 12th Street because a passenger was having a seizure.

        Instead, a TANK supervisor trained in epilepsy procedures responded, assessed the situation and called 911. A total of 14 minutes elapsed, according to Ms. Hendrickson, before a Covington Fire Department ambulance responded and took the man to St. Elizabeth South Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Anne Hendrickson said it took a total of 14 minutes to get an ambulance for a man who had a seizure aboard a TANK bus Tuesday. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        TANK officials said the bus driver and the supervisor followed company procedures, but Ms. Hendrickson, who said she and other passengers timed the response, thinks those procedures might result in serious consequences for a passenger someday.

        “The man was in the back of the bus when he went into the seizure,” she said. “Some people near him assisted as much as they could and told the bus driver what was happening while she continued down I-75 (northbound) from Fort Wright. She called to her dispatcher immediately.”

        Ms. Hendrickson estimated it took about six minutes for the bus to come to a stop and a TANK supervisor to arrive. She said another passenger was watching his watch and said it took eight minutes for an ambulance to arrive after the 911 call was made.

        “That 14 minutes could make the difference,” said Margie Frommeyer, executive director of the Epilepsy Council of Greater Cincinnati. “That extra step of calling the supervisor and then the supervisor calling 911 could cause a problem.”

IF YOU SEE A SEIZURE

• Most seizures last three minutes or less. If you witness an epileptic seizure, the most important thing is to not panic and remain calm.     • Watch the person as best you can so you can answer questions from emergency workers.     • Make sure the patient is lying on the ground, on a soft surface and on his side. There is a misconception that a patient will swallow his tongue. But in a seizure the tongue can fall back and block breathing, so the person should be on his side.     • Do not put anything in someone's mouth while he is having a seizure.     • Loosen the person's clothing.     • Protect the person so if he is jerking, he won't be harmed by hitting something or falling.     • If a seizure lasts more than five minutes, call for medical attention.    Source: Dr. Tracy Glauser, epilepsy specialist, Children's Hospital Medical Center

BUS EMERGENCIES

TANK: The driver pulls the bus off at the earliest, safest spot, and calls dispatch to alert the company to the emergency. In the case of a seizure, a supervisor is sent to the scene to assess the situation and determine if emergency medical personnel are needed. In the case of a heart attack or other more serious injury or illness, dispatch immediately calls 911 to send help to the location of the bus, and also sends a supervisor.     Metro: The official policy is for the driver to call dispatch immediately, and for dispatch to call immediately for assistance through the nearest fire department or other emergency agency. Drivers are instructed not to do anything if someone is having a seizure or other problem, but to wait for emergency medical personnel.

        Dr. Tracy Glauser, an epilepsy expert with Children's Hospital Medical Center, said most seizures “last three minutes or less. If a seizure lasts more than five minutes, you need to call for immediate medical attention.”

        Gina Douthat, director of communications for TANK, said Tuesday the company is comfortable with the procedures in place for handling emergencies on a bus.

        “The operator pulled off at the safest spot, then went back and got space for the man having the seizure,” she said. “She had already called a supervisor, and after assessing the situation the supervisor called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, the man was out of the seizure.”

        Ms. Douthat said all TANK supervisors receive training from the Epilepsy Council. But Ms. Frommeyer said she thought the transit company might want to take their procedures one step further.

        “I think it's important for the drivers to take the training as well as the supervisors,” Ms. Frommeyer said. “TANK may want to reconsider and have the drivers trained so they can render assistance immediately and make the determination whether to call 911.”

        Ms. Douthat said TANK dispatchers call 911 immediately when contacted by a driver if there is an incident such as a heart attack on a bus.

        “We have seizures on buses fairly regularly,” she said. “People with epilepsy or other conditions that cause seizures can't drive, so they use public transportation.”

        Sallie Hilvers, communications director for Metro, said the Cincinnati company's policy on making 911 calls depends on the severity of the situation.

        “The official policy is to immediately call dispatch, and dispatch immediately calls for assistance through the nearest fire depart ment or other emergency agency,” Ms. Hilvers said. “That includes seizure, but again it depends on the severity of the situation. We wouldn't do that for someone who had bumped their arm or gotten a scratch.”

        Ms. Hilvers said Metro bus drivers are instructed not to do anything if someone is having a seizure or other medical difficulty, but to immediately contact dispatch.

        “We get almost instant response from police and fire when they know the problem is on a bus,” she said.

        Although some major airlines are now placing defibrillators aboard aircraft and training workers in their use, the transit companies said they had no plans for such a move.

        “We talked about this (at TANK) about a year ago, possibly having a defibrillator for supervisors to use,” Ms. Douthat said. “But it hasn't been discussed since. There's a lot of expense involved.”

        Neither TANK nor Metro drivers have telephones in their buses, but they are connected directly to the dispatch desk. Both companies indicated they had no reason to change that policy because dispatchers can immediately call 911 for an emergency.
       

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