Police tazer, beat, and charge man for having seizure

[Flatspriest]

Sooooo...

Why is a person with grand mal seizures driving a car?

They are not supposed to in Texas if they have had any seizures within the past 3 years. It would also be in their medical listing if they told the truth when getting their driver's license.

[Vanyali]

It's called "basic fucking first aid training" and I would expect a police officer to be trained in it. Epilepsy was sure as hell covered in my first aid training.



1. When he starts having another seizure, I'd assume that rather than zapping them and beating them to a pulp

2. Laws in both the USA and Canada disagree.

1) Seizure behavior afterwards is covered by a lot more than "he had a seizure". Might as well conclude they have dementia and serve medication to fix the problem on that basis.

2) No indication he had two seizures. he had one, while driving, that caused him to crash, and his behavior post-crash was that of one coming out of a seizure. Confused, disoriented, violent... resisting arrest, in other words.

[Torgent]

It's called "basic fucking first aid training" and I would expect a police officer to be trained in it. Epilepsy was sure as hell covered in my first aid training.



1. When he starts having another seizure, I'd assume that rather than zapping them and beating them to a pulp

2. Laws in both the USA and Canada disagree.

They have basic first aid training. They do not have training that would allow them to distinguish between a person waking up from a seizure and a drunken person considering how similar they are upon first arrival.

[Vanyali]

Similar to how you don't need to be a police officer to know what a crime ring is, you don't need to be a doctor to know what a seizure is. Not to mention, the vast majority of police officers in my state go through basic medical training, so your entire point is moot.

Again: the symptoms exhibited by people post-seizure are very very common to a variety of things. Including being drunk.

[Dug]

Texas requires drives be seizure free for a three month period while New Mexico requires six."


These states are scary places.

Oh wow I actually didn't know that. That's fucking terrifying.

[jackofwind]

It's called "basic fucking first aid training" and I would expect a police officer to be trained in it. Epilepsy was sure as hell covered in my first aid training.



1. When he starts having another seizure, I'd assume that rather than zapping them and beating them to a pulp

2. Laws in both the USA and Canada disagree.

I don't care what the laws say, I personally think its dangerous to have someone who has grand mal seizures driving on public roads. I don't think people with chronic narcolepsy should drive either. I don't see why endangering the lives of everyone on the road around them is worth the inconvenience they suffer from taking public transit.

And for the record, I believe you need a note from a physician stating that you are unlikely to have ongoing seizures to be eligible for a license.

And they wouldn't know he was having another seizure because they didn't even know he had one to begin with. All they knew is that he was violently resisting arrest (and FYI he didn't have two seizures, he was in a post-seizure state - I guess they didn't cover epilepsy taht well in whatever course you took).

You're awfully good at armchair driving your imaginary if-i-was-a-cop-mobile, but I doubt that you'd react in the way you describe when in the field in the same situation. Police have a lot more to worry about when someone begins violently resisting arrest after appearing to be drunk and combative than wondering if they might randomly be having a seizure.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Came in expecting to find that someone had actually been tazered, beaten and charged FOR HAVING a seizure...that's what the title suggests at least...

I guess Police should be doctors, surgeons, psychologists, dog whisperers, mechanics, and rocket scientists. Because why would a police officer not be trained in everything ever?

Considering the people calling themselves that are untrained and preaching based on own experiences, wrongful conclusions based in human logic rather than reality and the world's most long-lived meme, that wouldn't do police much good.

[the game]

Looking at someone after a seizure that you don't know and concluding "yeah, he's had a seizure" is a fool's game. Because you could also just be sleepy, drunk, high, have dementia, or a variety of other things that would make you confused.

- - - Updated - - -





"Texas and New Mexico do not prevent those who suffer from seizures from getting a license.

Texas requires drives be seizure free for a three month period while New Mexico requires six."


These states are scary places.

Just because they can get a license doesn't mean they should be driving. This guys accident proves it.

[Torgent]

Came in expecting to find that someone had actually been tazered, beaten and charged FOR HAVING a seizure...that's what the title suggests at least...



Considering the people calling themselves that are untrained and preaching based on own experiences, wrongful conclusions based in human logic rather than reality and the world's most long-lived meme, that wouldn't do police much good.

That one was a joke pointed at those who throw a fit when a cop shoots a dog who was attacking them.

[jackofwind]

That one was a joke pointed at those who throw a fit when a cop shoots a dog who was attacking them.

Well obviously, couldn't the police officer see that the dog was just trying to defend its right to act aggressively on the sidewalk?

It was a good boy, it dindu nuffin.

[evogsr]

Similar to how you don't need to be a police officer to know what a crime ring is, you don't need to be a doctor to know what a seizure is. Not to mention, the vast majority of police officers in my state go through basic medical training, so your entire point is moot.

I've run on enough calls to tell you that even a seasoned medic can have trouble distinguishing the chief complaint between someone in a postictal state from epilepsy or inebriation. DT seizures can be just as violent. And unless you can get a handle on the person to do sampling, it's not as easy to diagnose as you seem to think it is.

If the vast majority of police officers in your state are going through basic medical training, I can guarantee you all of them are or none of them are doing it because it's mandatory. There is no middle ground when it comes to being certified as an EMT as an emergency responder. Your state either makes it a mandatory prerequisite to be employed across all LEO/Fire or they don't.

[Boogums]

It's called "basic fucking first aid training" and I would expect a police officer to be trained in it. Epilepsy was sure as hell covered in my first aid training.

OH GOLLY FUCKING WlZ, GUESS WHAT? THEY ARE! HOLY SHIT WHAT A STUPID, POOR EXCUSE AT A DEFENSE FOR YOUR FACE. IS YOUR PRIDE THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?

"Hey cop friend 1, this guy looks drunk."
"You're right cop friend 2, he sure is acting drunk."
"But wait, what if, out of the thousands of drunk drivers we deal with yearly, this guy is the .1% that's having a legit seizure."
"Boy, we sure would waste a lot of time if that's how we treated literally every drunk driver case we had to take care of."
"Yea, but what if Masark on the internet doesn't know how our job works and makes lambasted, retarded comments about it?"
"I guess that's a risk we'll have to take."

You're not saying "cops should be trained in first aid" you're saying "cops should be perfect in every aspect of their jobs." While that's a nice ideal to strive for, it's impossible in every single way for every single job ever, ever.

[I Push Buttons]

Those officers, their immediate superiors, and the DA on board with them must be really fucking stupid to follow through with the charges given the fact that the paramedics and a neurologist have confirmed he had/was having seizures and toxicology tests showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system...

Those cops must really want to ruin their careers and cost their department millions of dollars :P

[breadisfunny]

Not buying it. For one it's Fox...yeah get in trouble for something stupid you did and got beat up for, then call Fox....they'll fix it by golly. Nope...he even said he had no proof, and "couldn't remember"

thats what happens when you have a seizure genius.

[Masark]

Those cops must really want to ruin their careers

What makes you think that is going to happen?

[I Push Buttons]

What makes you think that is going to happen?

Do you think the city is going to want to keep several negligent officers that cost them a several million dollar settlement?

[Kellhound]

"Police officer" and "untrained person" don't belong in the same sentence.

But in the US they go hand in hand.

- - - Updated - - -

Do you think the city is going to want to keep several negligent officers that cost them a several million dollar settlement?

The police union will see to it that no officer, no matter how bad they are, gets fired.

[Notchris]

My sister has Grand Mal seizures. They're kept in check with medication, though she still suffers from sleep seizures.

She's eligible for a drivers license in Ohio. She doesn't trust herself to drive though.

The times she's had a seizure while awake, when she came out of one she would show all the classic signs of a drunk. I can see why someone would mistake the guy for being hammered.

[Rukh]

Pretty sure the local Fox stations are just normal news stations generally, not the masters of spin that is the national station.

More or less. They still often get told to do certain things. And of course ANY station anywhere can be ran with an agenda.

[breadisfunny]

i have had three seizures. every time i black out and can't remember anything shortly before during or shortly after. i wake up groggy and unable to figure out why i am where i am and what i am doing there. sometimes with slurred speech and only reason i know what happened was because i was told by others what happened.