OTW signs of stroke
 

On Sat., Tony (ful-rac) and I were coming back into King Harbor and rescued an elderly man that was having an apparent stroke. The guy was within 50 feet of the end of the short breakwall, struggling on a paddle board. There were literally 10 other people in the immediate vicinity of the man when we had just entered the harbor mouth. Not one of them took a few seconds to ask the man if he was having a problem. I will grant that most of the people in the immediate vicinity were on paddleboards for probably the very first time, but that was not true for the idiot teaching them. As we got closer to the man, I heard one of his students ask if the old guy was ok and he said, offhand, yeah he is ok. Here was the problem: The guy was able, just barely, to stay above water and hold onto his paddle board. He was unable to speak or communicate. He seemed to think that he was not paralyzed down his entire left side. He looked, from the outside, to be attempting to pull something up from the bottom while using his board as leverage. That is exactly what we thought for a couple of minutes as we approched, but he was not letting go of the apparent object he was holding even when his board would slip away from him. The first time his board slipped away, he was able to grab it pretty quickly, the second time was our que to act. Tony, in hs new PA, kicked it in gear and arrived first. He asked the guy if he was ok, and was answered with only grunts. He quickly said "give me your hand" and the guy did, only to pull away again to grab his board. Tony got his arm again and did not let go. I switched my radio to 16 and called out the mayday, and told them we probably had a stroke victim and where we were. The Lifeguard boat was there in probably 2 minutes and took the guy away. Don't know the status of the guy, but thought that the story should be told if only for what to look for in an otw stroke victim. (I am no doctor, and it could very well have been some other medical condition. But the guys left side was useless and made it look exactly like someone trying to pull an anchor or stuck lobster pot off the bottom). In dealing with the guy, he acted as if he did not realize he was paralyzed (pulling away from Tony), so be prepared for that in case you come across a similar situation.

Luckily you guys were there to assist:luxhello:.. It could have turned for the worse.

good on you guys!

i probably would have never noticed. i never really pay attention to other people out there, just the guys fishing to see whats going on.

Inconsiderate A-holes or clueless Mofo,s a little common sense goes a long way. You guys made the difference in this guys life when no one else would. Thanks for taking action.:cheers1:

A grim reminder that when we are on the water, if we lose out ability to sit/stand upright, there's no ground to fall on... Only water to drown in.

Good looking out, and good job having the situational awareness to quickly assess & assist in the situation. We need more people with this type of assertiveness in the world.


:you_rock:

Bravo!

Tony should be commended, a situation came up one time, him and I were coming into DP harbor from a nice day, we came into the entrance and Tony and I noticed a yak upside down, my first thought was a fellow fisherman and all his gear sinking to the bottom, however upon seeing this, we both went over to the upside down yak and found it to be a rental, and the paddler hanging off the side, clearly out of breath and kinda panicking, he could not get back in,
There must have been a dozen others around, and we watched another yakker paddle right by him prior to our arrival, Tony and I surrounded him and assisted him back into the yak.
As much attention as we pay to our surroundings, PBs, jetskis, ships, rogue wakes, and then add the normal fishing concerns, I think it is everyones responsibility to at least try and help out someone in need on the water if they are able, most of us are pretty experienced, but if something were to happen to me out there I would sure hope that someone like Tony, and Greg were around to give me a hand....:luxhello: :cheers1:












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Great job and great situational awareness! I'm definitely thankful there are guys like you out on the water paying attention and willing to help someone out.

:you_rock:

karma points awarded to you two :you_rock:

You guys :cheers1::you_rock:

And not just cuz of your halibut catching abilities...ok, that too...

Way to look out for a fellow waterman

Good job Greg. When it comes to being on the water. SUP, Kayak, Surf or boating it's the immediate people around you who are your best chance for survival incase of emegency. Sounds like you're spot on with your guess of it being a stroke.

Here's a good article called "Drowning doesn't look like drowning"
http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

Awesome, way to lend a hand:notworthy:

There must be something in that air near King Harbor that prevents some people from helping others in need. Thanks God people like Greg, Tony and the rest of us still exist.

As the others have already said many kudoes to you two!:you_rock:

I used to work for a hospital system and we were taught to look for certain symptoms heres a link to the quick way to recognize some of the signs: http://www.methodisthealthsystem.org/FAST

We were taught to think and act fast as a stroke doesn't always "look" like a stroke, you two seem to have that down pat!!!

Hope the fates bring you many great fishing trips and big fish your way soon.:luxhello:

great link and info thanks for sharin...

Way to go man!

I called the harbor patrol office at redondo today just because i was curious and they told me they cant release that type of information....i guess we'll never really know what happened...hopefully he made it and with no ill effects. Always watchout for anybody that looks like they're in trouble it doesnt hurt to ask if your not sure. Im just glad that greg and i could do something to help.

Great job saving that guys life. :you_rock:

That brings a whole new meaning to hero's on the water, awesome job you both did!

:you_rock::luxhello: Awesome job!!!

Praise God you were there Greg!!!
 

excellent job!!!

Great way of staying alert and helping. Knowing the signs of stroke can save someones life. A friend of mine survived a stroke and she's back to teaching now because those around her picked up on the signs of stroke and got her the help she needed.

Greg and Tony you guys Rock.:you_rock:

Thanks for the Kudos guys, but what is most important to both of us is that you get a mental picture of what we encountered. So that you can identify and help out the next person in that situation.

Very informative post. For all the LOOKILOOS that tread this post without contributing I hope you find the time. Different views and opinions are greatly appreciated. Who knows we may find ourselves needing help one day.

Excellent post.... Thanks. :notworthy:

You guys did the right thing. Often people dont want to ask for help even in a dire situation due to pride or whatever reason. This time the person was unable to communicate their needs. One sided weakness or paralysis is a tell tale sign of a stroke. Often the speech will be slurred and the face will droop as well. A simple test is to ask someone to raise their eyebrows. It is very evident with fine muscles such as those in the face or hand. I have been working on an ambulance since 2004 and have seen countless people having strokes. When it comes to getting help for them time is tissue in this case brain tissue. Which cannot grow back. I applaud you for helping this person. You might have saved this persons quality of life for the rest of their natural life. Sometimes it takes courage to intervene with a stranger so thanks for stepping up big! On another note please do your best to find out who the instructor was for that class and write as many letters as you can to whomever the licensing agency is for that area to ensure this is investigated. If this person suffered a stroke and was being ignored by staff that is a serious issue which requires some teaching for the instructor in first aid.

Great Job!
 

:you_rock: Excellent post guys and great job giving aid to someone in distress. My wife and I launched there 2 saturdays ago and ran into probably the same idiot instructors. We backed in with the truck to unload and were greeted by an instructor who said " I bet your tired of lugging around those heavy kayaks!" Nope I love my yak thank you! They had a trailer and 3 trucks down there a couple sawhorses for working on boards and 25-30 boards against the rails and on the dock. I felt like I was walking thru their shop to launch. and they were there several hours running classes. They owe you a big thanks doing their job and helping their student! As an industrial firefighter I know it takes courage to step forward and do the right thing, you guys probably saved that man's life! :luxhello: :notworthy: