Last night on the ABC’s Q and A program, panelist and Get Up Director Simon Sheik became suddenly unwell. In the middle of the live broadcast, he slumped onto the desk in front of him and appeared to have fainted or had some kind of seizure.
We’re pleased to report that Simon is going to be absolutely fine and is apparently already working from his hospital bed (crazy bloke!) So the conversation can now turn to people’s reactions and most particularly those of the other panelists.
As you can see in the video, the reactions of the two politicians on the panel could not have been more different. Sophie Mirabella, who was seated next to Simon, looks very confused and hesitant and a bit disgusted. As if Simon had just thrown up on her shoes (he didn’t, he was unconscious). She then appears to back away in her seat. Like she might catch something.
Mirabella told The Australian online that she hadn’t realised what was happening.
“Initially I like others in the audience and on the panel, I though Simon was making a joke or laughing at Greg (Combet),” she said. “Being right next to him and having very challenging vision in my right eye, I had to turn right around. I couldn’t see him.
“Then when it became apparent there was a medical problem the crew were there to assist him and I think we were all in a bit of shock.”
Ms Mirabella said she’d got Mr Sheikh’s mobile phone number after the show and had texted him this morning wishing him well. She said critics on Twitter had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
“People will use whatever opportunity to have a go at a political with whose views they may not agree,” she said. “Some people can conveniently jump to certain assumptions. All I can say is we were all in shock when we became aware it was a medical problem.”
Today, GetUp took to Twitter defending Ms Mirabella. “Folks, please don’t criticise @SMirabellaMP it was an extraordinary circumstance and everyone was shocked,” the lobby group said.
In contrast, Greg Combet, the Climate Change Minister does a little live commentary on what was happening before boldly leaping across the stage to Simon’s aid. The other panelists watch from the sidelines.
Here in the Mamamia office, it got us talking about what we’re all like in a crisis. Are you the person who panics? Are you the concerned onlooker? Or are you the person who bounds in to save the day?
A lot of people’s hesitancy can come from not really knowing what to do. Knowing a few first aid basics could help you increase someone’s chance of survival. So to give you a little more confidence, we thought we’d revive our previous post that busts 5 common first aid myths (this post was prepared with the help of representatives from St John Ambulance Australia):
1. Fainting
The Myth: Place the patient’s head between their knees.
The reality: Fainting is the body’s way of telling you to lie down naturally. So if someone faints, allow them to lie down. Don’t sit the person up because they can become unconscious and if their head tilts forward they can stop breathing. St John recommends that you lay the person down on their side if they’re unconscious and then when they’re conscious turn them onto their back and raise and support their legs.
2. Burns
The Myth: Slather on butter or toothpaste or aloe vera gel.
The reality: The best first aid for burns is water and plenty of it. Do not use butter, lotions, creams or oils on a burn and don’t remove anything that is sticking to the burn. To avoid scarring and long healing times, St John recommends placing the burn part under cold running water until it returns to normal temperature, usually about 20 minutes. An acceptable improvisation on a non-stick dressing is to use cling wrap over the wound.
3. Seizures and fits
The Myth: Place something hard between the patient’s jaws to stop them swallowing their tongue.
The reality: When someone is having a seizure it’s not actually possible for people to swallow their own tongue. The only thing you will achieve by putting fingers in their mouth is an amputated finger – or maybe a hand full of vomit. St John recommends that you let the person have their seizure in peace. Prevent intervention by well-meaning onlookers and place something under their head for protection (a jumper or jacket is ideal as it will stop any facial abrasions or head injuries).
4. People seriously injured in a car accident
The myth: Move the victim away from the scene
The reality: Don’t move unless absolutely necessary, it is potentially more damaging
People often think they should move a person out of a wreck and lay them down nicely for ambulance officer. St John recommends NOT to move the person unless there is a danger of, for example, the car exploding which is actually very rare.
5. Choking
The myth: Carry out the Heimlich Manoeuver immediately.
The reality: Encourage the person to relax and cough. People still believe in the Heimlich maneuver, but it can cause damage. St John recommends that you encourage the person to relax and cough in the first instance and if this is not successful at dislodging the stuck item lay the patient across your legs towards the ground and hit them hard between the shoulder blades.
NOTE: Mamamia posts do not purport to provide medical analysis or consultation. If you have any concerns or queries please consult your doctor or if you find yourself in the company of a person who needs medical attention, call an ambulance!
Have you ever been around someone who has fainted or have you fainted in public? Did onlookers know what to do? Would you know what to do in a crisis situation like the one on Q and A last night?
Comments
182 Comments so far
We all react differently to emergency situations, even when trained for them. I have been held up at gun point 3 times over a 10 year period. I had done many hours of in-house training and regular refreshers but I reacted differently every time. My reactions ranged from fear to taking control to anger. I initially thought Sophie Mirabella was pretty slack in just sitting there but maybe she didn’t know what to do, or maybe her brain didn’t kick into action as quickly as the others. Some people respond well in an emergency, others don’t.
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Holy hell! That is incredible! You are incredible. Well done you!
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The general feeling seems to be that Ms Mirabella’s reaction was not in fact a heartless one but simply the reaction of person in a frightening situation who didn’t know what to do. So let’s not judge her reaction or lack thereof (even though her facial expression looks more like disgust than confusion or fear).
Let us however, look at the actions of Greg Combet. How awesome is he? How extraordinary was his reaction to the very same situation? Someone get the man a cape!
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Am I super-cynical or did Combet’s response seem a bit calculated? Not trying to set up a no-win for anyone, but Mirabella at least seemed instinctive.
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Well, at least he did take notice and attempt to do something about the situation. If that’s calculating, I’ll take it over an instinctive reaction that does nothing any day.
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I really think mirrabella’s reaction speaks volumes about her personality. I know people say she is in shock and we all do weird things in shock but it seems her natural response to a person flopped on a desk is awkward withdrawal. There is something about it that smacks of the real person not the person in shock.
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My boyfriend is great in an emergency and rushes to help without thinking! Although this didn’t end well one time – we were driving around a corner at a set of traffic lights and a man had opened the drivers side door of a car waiting at the red light and as we came around the corner, it looked as though he was trying to pull the driver out. My boyfriend immediately yelled “carjacking”, opens his door and dives out (I’m still driving around the corner at this point) and grabs the perpetrator by the shirt and threw him on the ground…well turns out the driver was his mother and she was having a seizure. He was trying to move her seat backwards and lying down position to protect her! The poor son looked so frightened after being thrown on the ground!
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That is so funny(though it wouldn’t have been at the time) hope the son got over his fright and could understandbthe thought behind the “attack”
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That’s hilarious – I can just imagine the shock of the poor son…I can’t stop laughing
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I fainted at an Anzac Day ceremony one year, during the one minute’s silence. Luckily a local GP was standing nearby!
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Recently while driving my car I watched a 4WD cross the median strip drive into oncoming traffic slowly and then veer towards the footpath and head straight towards a stobie pole. I was on the side of the oncoming traffic. I had to swerve to avoid the car. But as the car got near me I could see the woman slumped over the steering wheel.
I quickly pulled over – as did two other cars. I was on the phone calling the ambulance as I walked towards the car along with the two other people who stopped. Thankfully one was a nurse. It turns out the woman had fainted at the wheel (with her two children in the rear of the car).
Bloody scary stuff. I kept the kids calm and talking and telling me stuff while the nurse relayed information to the ambo’s who arrived on the scene.
It wasn’t until much later that the shock set in and I shook from head to toe. You realise how lucky everyone in the situation was. Yes the car was wrecked but all the vehicles that didn’t get hit. All the pedestrians that didn’t get hit….etc
But I’ve always been that way in accidents (seen my fair share unfortunately). Calm in the crisis/fall apart when it’s safe. Maybe it’s because that’s what I have to do in my job, so it’s an automatic reaction?
But you shouldn’t judge people for their reactions. Some people go straight into a shock and can’t move. You never know until you’ve been in that situation before.
In relation to the show I think it took them all a few seconds to realise it wasn’t a stunt Iand that there was a genuine medical emergency.
The important thing is Simon is on the road to recovery.
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Recently while driving my car I watched a 4WD cross the median strip drive into oncoming traffic slowly and then veer towards the footpath and head straight towards a stobie pole. I was on the side of the oncoming traffic. I had to swerve to avoid the car. But as the car got near me I could see the woman slumped over the steering wheel.
I quickly pulled over – as did two other cars. I was on the phone calling the ambulance as I walked towards the car along with the two other people who stopped. Thankfully one was a nurse. It turns out the woman had fainted at the wheel (with her two children in the rear of the car).
Bloody scary stuff. I kept the kids calm and talking and telling me stuff while the nurse relayed information to the ambo’s who arrived on the scene.
It wasn’t until much later that the shock set in and I shook from head to toe. You realise how lucky everyone in the situation was. Yes the car was wrecked but all the vehicles that didn’t get hit. All the pedestrians that didn’t get hit….etc
But I’ve always been that way in accidents (seen my fair share unfortunately). Calm in the crisis/fall apart when it’s safe. Maybe it’s because that’s what I have to do in my job, so it’s an automatic reaction?
But you shouldn’t judge people for their reactions. Some people go straight into a shock and can’t move. You never know until you’ve been in that situation before.
In relation to the show I think it took them all a few seconds to realise it wasn’t a stunt Iand that there was a genuine medical emergency.
The important think is Simon is on the road to recovery.
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Yes, I am like that too, super calm during but freak out later. It’s almost like time slows down a bit while it’s happening.
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I’m not good in a medical crisis so as much as I can’t stand her I can’t judge Sophie Mirabella for her inaction. However Greg Combet’s reaction was almost immediate and without hesitation so it says something to me about the man.
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I agree- but what I am judging her on is her comments on ABC radio this morning where she said that she was just assuming he was laughing at Greg Combet’s answer as it was so laughable, etc etc. Even when discussing such an unfortunate event she was still spouting negative lines about the Government! I would’ve thought a ceasefire was appropriate.
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Good lord I didn’t know that! Sadly though it doesn’t surprise me
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Ooh at last I can legitimately tell these stories without feeling like I am trumpet blowing!
I saved a co-worker from choking last year, by doing exactly as you say above – I stood up and moved behind her and put my hands on her shoulders and said ‘just relax and try to cough honey, I am here, just try to relax’. she did calm down but was still struggling to breathe so I pulled her up and bent her over the table and dealt her a sharp blow (ooer lol) between the shoulder blades and she coughed up a piece of apple. She cried her eyes out afterwards and bought me a bottle of Leeuwin Estate 2007 art series Chardonnay to say thanks!
I also put out a house fire once. I was driving past and saw smoke and flames coming from the front of this house, so I pulled over, grabbed the hose which was luckily available and put the fire out. I think someone must have flicked a fag butt into the front garden. The front door was quite scorched and the flower bed was just ash…I wonder what the person who lived there thought when they got home?
Once the fire was out, I just got back in my car and drove off again. When I got to my mum’s, she said ‘have you been smoking?’ I said, ‘no I just put a house fire out’. I don’t think she believed me.
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Wow that’s cool haha – ‘oh I just put out a house fire – what’s for tea?’
I wonder what that person did think when they got home! It’s probably a story they tell a lot!
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Hmm – I would like to think if it was me, I may have atleast put my hand on him and asked if he was ok? But im terrible in a situation!!
When I still lived at home, a guy was working next door up a ladder. He fell off the ladder and collected the colorbond fence on the way down and landed in our yard. I didnt know it at the time, but he had fractured his ribs in 12 places and completely deflated his lung. I was beside myself! I managed to ring an ambulance, but by the time they got there they looked more concerned for my welfare! hahaha I did remember SOME of my first aid training (but somehow ‘dont panic’ was not one of the things). By the time 2 ambulances got him out, I abruptly went inside and smashed down a few vodkas and cried for about an hour! hahaha
Also had a co-worker collapse and fit on the ground at work after hitting his arm (they said it was his bodies way of shaking out the pain from hitting his arm). Unfortunatley again, the ‘dont panic’ part escaped my brain and I ran down the hallway yelling for the most senior coworker. Oh and this is the part where I must admit, I had only just done my first aid refresher the day before
Good in a panic – definitely not..
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I can’t stand Sophie Mirabella but I think it’s a bit unfair to judge her for this. I suspect I’d be like a stunned mullet in the same situation.
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Honestly people, think to yourself, what would you want someone to do if that was you that collapsed??? Would you want someone to reel away? Would you want someone to at least try and see if you are conscious. Even people without first aid training should at least know something basic like the recover position or to at least call for help immediately! The whole treat others how you would like to be treated applies strongly in this situation and I personally was disgusted in Mirabella’s reaction.
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I’m great in emergencies, but I’m the first to admit that sometimes it really does depend on what angle (physical space) you see things from. It’s often very much harder to react well when you are sitting close or not actually watching, as Mirrabella was. I think if I’d been in her seat I would’ve been trying to figure out what was going on just as she was
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Both of my kids have had scary choking incidents. Each at around 12-15 months of age. One on watermelon, the other on apple (even though I told my husband not to let her nibble his farking apple!)
I was petrified both times but quickly remembered what we had been shown to do at the maternal & child health centre with laying them over our knees and hitting between shoulder blades. Thank god it worked after a few attempts, but I was trembling for the rest of the day on those occasions!
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K had a choke the other day on crumpet, at 5 days shy of, as you said, 15 months!
I pulled in out of her throat, she had a funny rattly breath and then just kind of sat there looking at me for a bit. Then had a drink. Go First Aid training and a calm response!
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My sister has epilepsy and I have seen her have seizures many times. I don’t hesitate to help her but she is my sister, I love her and I know exactly what to do when it happens. Were it a man I don’t know I doubt I would be so quick to react. I don’t think anyone should judge Sophie’s actions as they weren’t there and we do all react differently.
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Here is the Sophie Mirabella meme.
I don’t have an opinion on her actions either way. Who knows what went through her head. We can all be shocked into inaction. People would have been more forgiving of another politician, of any side of politics. If you set yourself up as a hard-hearted attack dog then you don’t get a lot of leeway with the public when stuff like this happens.
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That is so Good !!!
how do people come up with these things so quickly!!
nice one – so true
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I feel like a nob. I actually jumped up and ran to the tv to help. Too much reality tv.
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Oh, anyone knocking Sophie Mirabella, it’s not very fair. No one knows what they’d do until they’re in the situation, and Sophie’s just happened to be on live television. Something most of us would be lucky enough to avoid.
And it’s not like Simon was in danger from Sophie’s inaction, there were plenty of other people there to help. It all happened quite quickly really.
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I think she was just a bit confused and startled.
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I hate to defend Sophie, but you have to realise that she didn’t see what we saw. She was turned away when Simon lifted his cup, and when she turned it could have looked like he was reaching down. He spilt his water so maybe the look was ‘What is this wet stuff on me?’
She was slow to react, but I don’t think she looked disgusted, my daughter makes that face a bit when she’s concentrating and she wears glasses too.
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I saw this live last night and was screaming at the tv for a couple of seconds – “he’s having a seizure – someone help him!!” I like to think that means I would jump up to assist in an emergency but you never really know until you’re in that position.
I’ve had 2 incidents happen in front of me. Once when I was in high school (about 15 years ago) an elderly man tripped and fell off the bus onto the footpath. I was seated and saw it happen out the window and I yelled out to the bus driver to stop and ran off to help him. The second incident was my daughter choking on a piece of chicken and starting to turn blue in front of me. I totally panicked and was completely useless. Thank god my mum was there to help and my daughter was fine.
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I’m the fool who will bound in to save the day. Calm in a crisis but then have a major panic attack hours or days later. Pedestrian hit by a car – check. Old person falling down organising and waiting for ambulance – check. Child to hospital with partially severed finger – check. Broken limbs – check. Choking dog – check. Breaking up a street brawl – check. Confronting an intruder in my house – check. Slapping down a guy flashing his penis – check…
I used to work as a Floor Manager in TV so it is your job to be calm in chaotic situations. Amongst the Q & A TV studio crew there would have been more than one First Aid trained – including the FM – and the crew would have been standing out of shot ready to leap into action. But remember the program was live to air so the small seconds clicking by seemed like an eternity to those of us watching it in real time…
It was a bit of a super hero moment though when Greg Combet finally realised what was happening and shouted, “Simon is not alright!” and leapt out of his chair…
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Wow. You are brave! How did you deal with the intruder??
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I was so pissed off. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to be in the house in the middle of the night… I was young and bold – it was a Uni days share house. It was 2 or 3am… luckily our dog was growling and that woke me up. I could see the shadow of someone outside my door and asked who was there. I leapt up and the guy went onto the stairs and said “I’m looking for Susan.” And by this time my (male & speechless) flat mate was up and the dog was still growling. I was really mad, “There is no Susan here! How dare you come in our house in the middle of the night!” The guy had the nerve to be annoyed, “Alright, calm down I was just looking for Susan…” while edging down the stairs. And then he left and we went out on the front verandah and watched him walk down the street and away. For the rest of the night I lay in bed wide awake and shaking with delayed reaction shock. It was bizarre.
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OOooh can you tell the story of the penis flasher next??
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Sure Lt! Again, this was during my brave and bold Uni days. It was about 3am and I had been out with friends and back at their house partying. Finally I decided to walk the two blocks home. It was pretty cold so when a guy jogged past me I thought he was smart, keeping warm by jogging. But then he stopped in front of me, blocking the footpath and turned around. And there in the cold night was his flaccid penis flopping out of his pants. I was stunned. He asked, “Want a piece of this?” Slowing my step but not stopping I laughed and told him to “F**k off!” And slapped him out of my way and continued my walk home. Of course once I was safely locked in my house I got the shakes and was really scared he had followed me. Luckily I never laid eyes on him nor his flaccid penis again!
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ooh ooh! I had a situation like that too!
I was living in a basement flat in London and had the front window open, airing the place out. I had moved into another part of the flat (to sort washing or some other mundane task), when I noticed the door to the front room slowly close.
It was around 4.30pm in the summer and I thought it was strange as there was no “breeze” strong enough to move the door. I walked up the hallway, into our front room to confront a young black man hurriedly shoving stuff into my backpack – it was a crime of opportunity (as he had walked passed, saw the window open, walked down the stairs and climbed through).
I have always said in the numerous re-tellings of this story that you NEVER know how you are going to react in a given stressful situation. Mine was to yell at the dude and when he bolted out the front door was to clear the room in three strides, leap out the window and chase him up the stairs and down the street – screaming like a banshee for him to stop. Did I mention that I was wearing a singlet top (no bra) and ankle length denim skirt and NO shoes? Don’t judge me, it was over 10 years ago…
What did I think I was doing? Did I actually think I was going to catch him? And what the hell did I think I was going to do if I did catch him??????? Stupid, stupid, stupid. But it had a happy ending. Because I made such a racket, people came from everywhere and a passing courier cyclist followed the intruder and watched him dump the backpack. He returned it to me and I was relived beyond belief when I found our passports and cameras in it!
By the time I got home, called the police to report what had happend, shock had set in. My boyfriend arrived home around 30 mins later to find me clutching the phone (as I had called him numerous times), sobbing. He thought someone had died and I was not making any sense through my blubbering. So yes, I consider myself a person of action (and have come to the aid of others in distress in public), but again – you really never know what you are going to do in a situation unless you’ve specifically trained for it, or just find youself in it.
Mirabella is not exactly high on my “warm and fuzzy” list, but I think we need to lay off and cut the woman some slack over her reaction to the drama last night…. her performance on the show overall though, is a different story….
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Well done Too Many Shoes, action woman!
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Oh wow, I just felt sorry for Simon. He looked embarrassed, poor bloke! We can’t help falling ill!
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On the two occasions that I’ve fainted it was quite disorientating coming to and having worried people around you (and I wasn’t on TV!).
I’ve had a seizure once also, and on all 3 occasions (2 x fainting, 1 x seizure) I went into reassurance mode right away – trying to let all of these concerned people know that you’re okay (without even knowing for sure if you are).
I can imagine Simon feeling embarrassed too – but I think more for worrying people and all the fuss than for looking odd.
It certainly shocked me watching it live!
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I watched this last night as it all happened and to be honest, I thought he was performing some kind of stunt. It wasn’t until Greg Combet jumped up, that I realised it was quite serious.
While Sophie Mirabella could’ve jumped up to assist, I can hardly blame her for being hesitant, trying to take in what was going on. Some people act better in medical emergencies than others. For example, I probably wouldn’t have done so well in that situation, whereas the person sitting next to me might handle it completely differently.
How this has turned into such a massive political issue now is beyond me. Seriously, we should be more concerned about Simon’s health and not how individual people responded. If this had have happened in the street and your average Joe stood back while someone else jumped into help, would this be an issue?
I’ve had just about enough of the constant slanging match going on in Canberra, lets not add to it. We’re better than those people in Canberra. Let’s act like adults and not stoop to their level.
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It. Kills. Me. to say anything remotely resembling defence of Sophie Mirabella, but I’m not sure she deserves this particular criticism. Its an enormous mental shift from participating in a panel discussion on live national TV to dealing with a completely unexpected health emergency (also on live national TV). Someone who is in an occupation or lifestyle where the unexpected rarely, if ever, occurs, will obviously find it difficult to make that transition. I suspect that applies to Ms Mirabella and most of the panel. I do think Combet is a particularly capable sort of person, plus I’m guessing he’s dealt with a few crises in his time.
As to Mirabella’s facial expression. I don’t even think that was disgust, I honestly think that’s just the way she looks.
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I would strongly suggest not to put cling wrap on a burn, this is done if it is a serious wound in which case you would be MUCH better off leaving it to the professionals and taking that person to a hospital!
Onto Q & A, this is not uncommon for people to standby and not doing anything, its the bystander effect and it happens all the time, Kitty Genovese anyone? Although that particular instance is generally unfounded (that people watched etc) but there have been several other instances where people have been attacked sexually or physically and people do nothing, I think it’s even worse these days with mobiles and you see the footage on the news and I think why are these people watching and not doing anyting!?
To be honest though it looks like everyone is shocked more than anything else and Tony Jones is the only one that looks more concerned about the show going on rather than the wellbeing of Simon!
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Sophie Mirabella cannot think on her feet when it comes to answering political questions (“stick to the script, stick to the script”), an oozes anything but compassion so I’m not surprised by her reaction.
However I think what was worse was not the fact she didn’t do anything but the recoil and look of disgust on her face. If she’d simply felt helpless or unsure she would have turne to the others on the panel for some guidance but all I saw written across her face was “what’s this nasty little man doing and why is he doing it next to me?”. Ugh.
Compassion is lacking in all abbots lackeys- comes from the top.
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My thoughts exactly!
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Me too!
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me three
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I like to think Im pretty good in an emergency. I was out shopping with my Mum & sister a while ago and were sitting down on one of the seats int he middle of a mall when the girl sitting next to us slumped over and had a seizure. Her poor boyfriend panicked and didnt know what to do. My mother & i helped him while my sister went to the nearest shop to ask them to call an ambulance (as it was a huge shopping centre we thought it would be best for someone who worked there to call so they could tell them the best place for it to go to). Then a couple of other ladies came and completely took over. My mum and i were basically pushed out of the way. They were right in her face asking if she was ok and my mum was trying to tell the ladies that they need to get out of her face and let her breathe but the ladies wouldnt listen. Poor girl was so confused! As there was quite a commotion already (saturday morning in a huge shopping centre you can imagine how many people were around) my mum wasnt going to make a bigger deal out of it as the girl seemed to be coming to ok and wasnt overly distressed. We stayed until the ambulance came to make sure she was ok though.
Having had fits myself though I know that the absolute worst thing is to come to and have people in your face yelling at you asking if you’re ok. Its just scary. Some people can help but helping while panicking is not a good idea! My Dad panics and the last time I had a fit waking up to him hoveing over my face yelling my name just made it more scarier. My mum is a lot calmer with these things and while she does worry she also can think straight.
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I’m definitely a doer. When I was having my second child I was waiting for a routine ultrasound. A woman came in visibly distressed and continued to get further distressed as she waited in a short line. She then started to wail and ran out of the building. The room was full of people and it seemed to me that everyone was trying to ignore what had just happened. I waddled after her and found this poor women hysterically crying huddled on the floor in a corridor of the hospital. She’d just found out that she had a miscarriage and was all on her own and then had to walk into an ultrasound clinic full of pregnant women and their partners. It would have been another 2 or 3 minutes before a staff member joined me to help this lady. It has always unsettled me that not one other person got up and that it took staff so long to react. I get the shock factor but I just don’t understand how in a room full of people (probably 10 to 15) I was only the only one that reacted. I always ask if someone is ok if they look ill or distressed or like they need help – I would want someone to offer the same assistance to me if I was in that situation.
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Sophie Mirabella makes me want to stab my eyes out with a spoon, but I cannot say that I would have reacted much differently. I don’t know any first aid at all, so in this kind of crisis, I’m generally the startled person looking around for someone else to help.
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I saw a girl collapse on a street one evening. She fainted face first, knocked a bunch of teeth out and then had a seizure that was (probably, according to the paramedics) brought on by the knock to the head when she fell. Not sure what brought it on, she was totally sober but it was very hot that day.
I hate blood, hate hospitals, don’t like sick people, can’t watch ANY sort of medical operation or accident on TV and yet, as the closest person to her when it happened, suddenly found that my own discomfort was irrelevant and I stopped, helped the girl, colllected all her teeth off the ground and wrapped them up for her (I have no idea if a dentist can reinsert someone’s teeth but I didn’t know so figured it wouldn’t hurt), sat with her while she threw up, helped wipe up some of her blood from where she fell, wrapped my jacket around her and talked to her until the ambulance (that I phoned) arrived.
I’m not saying I’m some sort of hero, I can scarcely believe I did it. It’s just amazing what you can do when you’re under pressure – you may surprise even yourself!
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Jules if I ever faint I hope you are walking behind me!
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Hehe – I really hope you don’t though! Both for your sake and mine – about 3 hours after she’d left in an ambulance it finally sunk in and I had a mini meltdown and drank a botle of wine in about 5 minutes flat!
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Surprise and shock can stun people; their brains stop working. Don’t judge too harshly. I got a piece of dinner stuck , and wasn’t able to breathe. I was chocking at my family’s dinner table. Around the table was my father (a GP) my sister (an anesthetist) and my step mother (a nurse). As I could feel myself almost passing out, trying to breathe, they all looked at me in stunned silence. One of then finally engaged their training and whacked me. Lol. Obviously it worked. But geez! If a table full of trained medical professionals get surprised into inaction, as it’s so out of context, how do others feel?
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Is it terrible that I found that very funny? Glad you’re ok, but I can see the whole fam sitting and staring.
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I have just watched this now, it looks to me like he spilled his water on the desk and she was trying to avoid the water and figure out what was going on. She was definitely shaking his arm and saying his name.
I have no idea who she is so I am not biased one way or another, but what do you people want from her?
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I agree, she looked like she wasn’t sure what was going on and as soon as she realised something was wrong she touched/rubbed his arm.
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The thing is you NEVER know what you will do until it happens.
Years ago, I was at my sister’s house and all our children were in her pool playing. We called them out of the water for dinner and, as soon as her back bubble floatie had been removed, my niece, all of 15 months old, promptly jumped back into the water and sank like a stone.
And my sister and I just stood there on the pool’s edge, staring at her.
I clearly remember thinking, ‘Looks like I’ll have to take my shoes off before I jump in’, and then there was a splash as my son, then aged 8, jumped in and retrieved her, spluttering, from the bottom of the pool and in one smooth movement handed her to my sister, whose mouth was still open with shock.
The whole incident took less than 15 seconds from beginning to end. I’m not sure I spoke. I’m pretty sure I didn’t move.
Until then, I had always thought myself calm in a crisis. I think it’s better to assume our instincts will kick in and unless we are extremely well trained, we can’t rely on anything else for at least the first few seconds.
My son had just come off two weeks of life-saving lessons through his local school and quite possibly that’s what kicked in for him, though I’ve seen his protective behaviours play themselves out time and again as he’s gotten older. He’s instinctively a person who acts first and asks questions later.
And thank God for that.
So, I’m not going to have a go at Mirabella’s response, I’ve seen it happen all too often. For the most part, people are either do-ers or onlookers. I know we would all like to be in the first category, but more often we’re in the second and that makes us uncomfortable.
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How awesome of him! I bet you were so proud.
I’ve always said that my eldest son is the one you want in a crisis. He’s the first to do something when something goes wrong, while son#2 is more of a ‘what, huh?’ kid!!
Me – I have no idea what I would have done. Probably just looked confused!
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I have always wondered how I’d react in an emergency as I have never been faced with one. Not a true emergency but, a year or so ago, the passenger I was sitting next to on the bus became ill. I noticed the girl starting to moan and when I looked at her, she was very white and starting to slump forward. I think I said something redundant like “Are you ok?” She replied that she was going to vomit. As it happened, I had my lunch in a plastic bag so I dumped the lunch things out and gave her the bag to use. The poor girl seems more embarrassed than anything but what really surprised me was the reaction from other passengers. People actually seemed to be trying to ignore the situation and not get involved. Something that makes me laugh in hindsight though is that when I called out to ask if anyone had a water bottle (so the girl could clean her mouth a bit), a few people pointed at a lady holding a new water bottle. But she turned to us and said “I can’t give it to you, it’s Evian”
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Evian? Should be on that ‘meh’ post. How rude!
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I am terrible in emergencies. When my sister broke her arm on the stairs of our house I locked myself in my room and let my poor hysterical grandmother (also terrible in emergencies) deal with it. I was pretty young but old enough to help.
When a horse got its head stuck in a gate and was thrashing around I had to turn and face the other way in fear while my mum rushed to its aid. It ended up getting out by itself, not sure what she could have done.
Once my boyfriend and I were walking home from the pub and saw a man lying across the pavement up ahead. My boyfriend told me to stay where I was (he was afraid he had been stabbed, etc) and ran up to help him. He was actually just passed out drunk and had to be put on his side, and we waited until the ambulance came. My boyfriend did all the talking on the phone and useful things and I am sorry to say I just stood there, shocked.
So I think I am pretty useless. I would like to think that if I was faced with an emergency and I was the only person around, I would be quick to act – but it seems when others are around I let them handle it.
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Woops, didn’t mean to tack that on to your post Liz!
But the Evian comment is a classic…. I may be useless but I am not so useless as to deny a sick person water!
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Actually if you listen to the audio you can hear Sophie asking are you OK? She also had her arm around him at one point. And remember she didn’t see what we did because she was looking at combet. I also don’t think she looked disgusted at all. I think that is just labor voters thinking liberals are evil all the time.
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I fainted at work once. Was the first time I had ever fainted. The guy next to me grabbed me before I smacked my head on a steel table.
Luckily it was at Etihad Stadium before a footy game and I was right next to the St John’s ambos who helped me.
I don’t really remember what happened but they were good.
The next time I fainted I was in line at maccas after a night out (i know what you’re thinking, but i didn’t drink that night hehe, and i don’t take drugs) and apparently the maccas staff were fabulous.
I’m one of those people who waits for someone else to do something. Mostly because in situations where someone is injured, I don’t know alot of first aid so I don’t want to do something wrong in case it injures the person further. I’m happy to help but will usually wait for someone else to take the lead. I’m sure that if after a few seconds no one did, then i’d do something.
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Yeah I would also like to make comment on Tony Jones. I understand that due to it being live television he had to get on with the show, but I didn’t get that element of concern from him, being the host that I would have otherwise assumed would have been there. It’s surprising that he didn’t ask for medical attention asap when it was obvious he required it. I think the other issue is that a lot of the panellists would have just assumed he was “face palming” using the desk, to illicit boredom at the response being given at the time. So a few contributing factors were going on to allow for the slow response time but it definitely left me feeling uneasy. I’m glad TJ kept updating viewers during the show though with regards to Simon’s well being.
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I think it’s a bit harsh and unfair to be disappointed, shocked or horrified at Sophie’s reaction, clearly she was totally confused and unsure what the hell was going on. It’s just one of those things, people do react very differently in such situations. They were also on live tv which adds another aspect to a bizarre unexpected situation.
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Agreed. It could also be that because she was so close to Simon she couldn’t quite see what was going on and probably had to move away from him to actually see what was going on, hence looking like she was moving away in disgust.
Greg on the other hand, was on the other side of the panel and had a better view and could probably more quickly identify that he was not okay.
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You can not find me enough negative things to say about Sophie and her politics – can’t stand the woman, but i do think in this situation she was more shocked than disgusted. I mean imagine being on live TV, and suddenly someone is on the desk. It’s extremely unexpected and after the initial shock she does reach her hand over etc. It often takes a few seconds to realise something isn’t a joke, it’s serious. Life isn’t like the movies where your reactions are prepared for you! It is fascinating watching all of the reactions, but i have judgement for none of them. Glad to hear Simon is okay.
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All I can say is my crush on Greg Combet just got bigger.
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me too! Goodlooking, smart and caring….
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Same here! He’s like Louis Theroux meets Superman in my mind now!
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Combet seriously has to be Prime Minister at a future time. Articulate and caring.
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Thanks for this. When my boyfriend was choking, I did not do what Sophie did (look in disgust) but there were a few seconds of shock where I was unsure what to do exactly and just stared in horror before doing something. When Simon collapsed it felt like ten minutes of everyone doing nothing while he sat there helpless to me as a viewer, but I suppose for them there was the initial shock then not knowing what to do. Good on Greg for being a “doer” and using his first instinct to get up and help. I am shocked at Sophie’s reaction but I guess its hard to judge when we weren’t there. I just hope human compassion eventually prevails for most people rather than the “gawk and stare” that is often so common. I know Tony had to move on with the show but it did seem like he ws a little annoyed and just wanted to get on with it. Bit disappointed in him as the host who should be briefed on this sort of thing by producers, medical staff etc.
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The thing that gets me is that even after Greg had come to Simon’s aid Sophie Mirabella still does nothing!
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Yeah and then as he was taken away, she just sort of coughed and sipped her water in relief, as if an annoying bug had just been squashed or something. Terrible.
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I saw this happen live – it was extremely unsettling, in crisis situations of my own it takes a second for the initial shock to go away but generally I’m right there next to the person attempting to offer assistance.
Sophie Mirabella is absolutely painful. She looked disgusted. Initially I can understand that she may have been shocked, or thought it was part of some skit, but when it was obvious that Simon was not responding I would have thought she would have been a bit more accommodating rather than just blankly glaring at him. (Like, at the least she could have moved out of the way to allow others to assist him…she just sat there)
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I was there too, it was terrifying.
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I commented last night that she looked like she was sitting on something prickly. Kind of like in the Sound of Music when the kids put the pine cone on Maria’s chair. Except Maria’s nice.
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Use common sense. Sophie was boxed in, in between Combet and the stage managers who came in to help. She would have only been in the way by standing up. Use your brains!
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Sophie looked absolutely disgusted and couldn’t get far enough away from Simon. Poor bloke.
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I’m not a fan of Sophie Mirrabella in any way at all, but I’m not going to rush to condemn her for her lack of reaction – we all react differently to these kinds of situations…and for it to happen in front of an audience and cameras would have only added to the situation…
I’m not sure how I would have reacted…I would like to think that I would have been like Combet, but it’s just as likely that I would have frozen like Sophie Mirrabella…so I’m not going to judge.
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Don’t forget the ‘bystander effect’. If Sophie had been the only person in the room, she would’ve helped. When there is a group of people, studies show that everyone waits for someone else to do something!
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Was quite unsettling to watch, but was extremely impressed with Greg Combet’s quick reaction and concern, not so much the other panelists (especially his neighbour…). Recently I had an accident within a group of people that I knew quite well and the same thing happened. There were people who were far away from me who came rushing to my aid and those who were right next to me who stood back looking horrified. We had all participated in the same first aid course not long beforehand, so it seems that not even first aid training will help some people.
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I saw that on television and I felt so sorry and concerned for Simon. It is great to hear that he is okay.
I’m not defending what Sophie Mirrabella did, but I can kind of understand her reaction. I am emetophobic and germophobic in general. If I feel I am ‘exposed’ to something I will on the verge of a panic attack for the next week. Illness terrifies me in what I acknowledge is a very irrational way, but I cannot control it. As a result I often react very insensitively when someone is unwell around me. I can’t control this, and I wish I wasn’t like that. I hate that I can’t help others when they need it because of my fear. I’m not saying Mirrabella has this fear, but I wanted to say that just because someone reacts badly doesn’t mean they are heartless or anything.
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I’m the same way, unfortunately. It can be very debilitating.
When my own children are unwell, it takes a lot of mental strength for me to be unafraid for long enough to make sure that they are comfortable and safe.
I can only imagine how I would have reacted in this situation.
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What a shocking reaction from Sophie. Very disappointing.
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Good on Greg Combet. Good to see him being so quick to Simon’s side. My grandfather was good friends with Greg.
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