2nd April 2025 - Helplessness In Situations
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Over the weekend, I was supervising 2 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award 
groups while they wandered across Cannock Chase. On the Sunday, I was 
woken up in a rather surprising way.

"HELP, [Explorer] is having a SEIZURE!"

I was half asleep, having suffered the clocks changing and doing the 
usual camping wake up every few hours. Mentally, I eventually worked 
out the word seizure and mentally said "Oh shit!". After a battle to 
get out of the sleeping bag, get some shoes on and find my glasses, I 
joined 2 other leaders outside this Explorer's tent. They were 
diagnosed with epilepsy and we knew about it on the medical records. 
She also had 'quiet' fits where she convulses a little but no flailing 
limbs. Thankfully, they have a twin who was on the expedition and was 
a dab hand on caring for them. It ended up with 5 leaders standing 
outside this person's tent while watching the twin provide masterful 
care. 

It felt weird not being able to help. You know there is lots going on 
but nothing will help. The person having the seizure was safe, warm 
and unlikely to cause harm to others. The only thing we had to worry 
about was their being sick. All we did was remark on how brilliant the 
twin's care was. 

The only help we could provide ended up being after the seizure. For 
one, the Explorer was out of it. They didn't know they were on camp or 
what happened the day before. I recognised the struggle with 
coordination and trying to string sentences together from when I have 
had migraines. It is bloody awful and almost like you are drunk. There 
was a lot of guiding that Explorer and their friends to get the basics 
sorted while they came back to reality. 

It was a real shame. In the end, they were deferred for their 
assessment. The Explorer had only done 1 day of the expedition and so 
they will have to do it again. Fingers crossed they have not seizures 
on the next expedition. On a selfish level, fingers crossed that I am 
not woken up in the same way again. At least when it is a child 
shouting that someone has been sick on them, there is less of a rush 
to get untangled from the sleeping bag!