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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-11-18, Page 1414 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, November 18, 2015 Five students from Seaforth collapsed on Remembrance Day Shaun Gregory Huron Expositor It was a frightening moment when a female stu- dent from Seaforth came crashing down to the ground, nearly missing the pavement by inches, in the course of a speech at the Remembrance Day Parade. After the Poppy Day festiv- ities ended, through an investigation led by the Expositor, it is believed that five students from St. James Catholic Elementary and Seaforth Public School passed out during the ceno- taph event as well as a few others who did not feel up to par. The principal at St. James's Karen Tigani, stated that the students were prepared for a sea- sonably cold November RECRUITING ONE NEW HCEDB BOARD MEMBER HURON N COUNTY HCEDB The Huron County Economic Development Board YOU COULD BE PART OF HELPING HURON COUNTY GROW IN EXCITING NEW WAYS! If you are passionate about Huron County and want to see it positioned well for the future; If you believe that we have a great story to tell and that we welcome investments and business development at the same time as we embrace our heritage and quality of life; and if you know that it takes commitment and hard work to accomplish great things ... then consider putting your name forward. In 2016 the Board will launch Huron County's new economic development strategic plan and a new economic development department structure. APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY November 30th at 4 p.m. For information on the Board and the recruitment process those interested can contact Natasha Fritzley via phone: 519-524-8394 x.3232 and email: nfritzley@huroncounty.ca day. When the tempera- ture rose many students were still wearing their winter jackets. She said the heat was an influence on a large portion of the stu- dents who purportedly passed out. After speaking with people in the crowd several locals specified that this is a common occurrence for this specific event, especially one of this size. Seaforth Public School's principal, Anne Copeland coaxed her students to eat a small snack before the cere- monies to help with any fatigue feelings because she knew they would be stand- ing in the same spot for quite some time. "I'm thinking it was still not enough, it's all about the right nutrition," Copeland told the Expositor in her office. She said three of her stu- dents were affected, includ- ing a child that checked out at the hospital with a minor scrape on her chin from falling, one went home, while another student stayed at school and was fine after eating and drink- ing some water. The girl that did fall during the presentation at the Remembrance Day celebration was attended to without any delay. She was carted away in an ambu- lance a few minutes later. "The one young lady who EMS was looking after when the ambulance came, the mom happened to be at the back of the crowd and didn't realize it was her child, her first question was what did you have to eat today?" explained Copeland. One of the EMS personnel from the Clinton branch, Ben Driscoll was on hand, he said what the student was experiencing is what's called Syncope, more commonly known as passing out. The reason for it is because the brain is not getting enough oxygen or blood flow. It is one of the natural functions of the human body, it forces you to lie down and let your body try and regulate every thing back to normal. "It's a protection mecha- nism, your body says some- thing is not right and fainting is a protection mechanism," stated Driscoll. "It generally is not a medical concern unless it happens fre- quently, then that can be a sign of a more serious underlying medical problem." There are a numerous dif- ferent aspects that can possibly lead to these faint like symptoms added Driscoll. But what the quali- fied emergency medical cor- respondent said generally activated most of the chil- dren's faint -like mishaps on Wednesday were dehydra- tion and most did not con- sume any food that day. Which perhaps steered their bodies into low blood sugar, subsequently resulting in the loss of consciousness. Driscoll indicated a strict set of important safety precau- tions to follow if someone is ever in the presence of a per- son going through a health concern such as Syncope. • The best way to treat them is to keep the person laying down for a few min- utes and let the blood pres- sure return to normal. • Keeping their head low and take some deep breaths. • You can move them to a sitting position when feel- ing better and offer them juice or water. • Keep them resting until they feel they have returned to normal. • If injured from the fall or taking longer than five minutes to return to nor- mal, then call an ambu- lance or take to the hospital for further care. Shaun Gregory Huron Expositor A young girl is escorted to an ambulance on November 11 at the Remembrance Day Parade presentation, she is one of five students from Seaforth to faint that day.