Comment Don't automatically call 911 on epileptics (Score 5, Informative) 327
I had epilepsy for 30 years, about one seizure every two weeks, before finally getting brain surgery last year. The seizures were deeply hallucinogenic, physically severe, often lasted 10-20 minutes, and they left me with a huge hangover; afterwards I had to sleep about 12-18 hours in one go, maybe wake up for maybe four hours, then go back to sleep for another 12-18 hour stretch. I was like my brain was rebooting like Windows after a blue screen. If I wasn't able to sleep, I would become really sick, get intense migraines, and start throwing up, and recovery took several days longer.
A big problem was people instantly making 911 calls. I was routinely being dragged off to an ER all the time, waking up in one at least once a month. They all knew me there, and realized after a while what the deal was, so I would be wheeled into a corner and left behind a curtain while they tended to more serious cases. I had to wait there for hours staring up at fluorescent lights and struggling to keep from vomiting and choking to death (since they liked to strap me on the bed face up). It usually took six to ten hours to get out of there- I had to wait for the lab to finish their ritual of drug assays for PCP, LSD, THC, cocaine, methamphetamine, and all kinds of other shit that they knew were going to come back negative. And this was before the ACA, so with a huge preexisting condition I couldn't get insurance from anybody, and had to pay out of pocket costs for meds which I couldn't afford half the time because this shit made it hard to get a job in the first place. When seizures came, I had about ten second warning from a visual aura. If I was outside I would quickly jump underneath nearby bushes or hide behind parked cars just so no one would see me and call the ER. I would wake up and stagger home bleeding, getting lost, and trying to stay out of sight. I did have a bracelet that said DO NOT CALL 911, along with my wife's number, but no one ever took it seriously. I wanted her to know so she could come pick me up, but I always wound up in the jaws of an ER instead.
Don't assume this guy and his wife want a 2 year old calling 911. That may be the last thing they need. I can see why he would want to know, right away. He's lived with her and is going to be better equipped to handle her than the paramedics will. if they can't get any clues from a toddler, the emergency responders have to figure out what's going on themselves, and that makes it a painful mess. There isn't a lot that an ER can do with a seizure anyway except strap the person down so they don't thrash around and get bruises. There's always the possibility of status epilepticus (which I've had many times) but you should wait until a seizure lasts for more than five minutes. They look scary, maybe like the person is dying, and of course there's the danger of thrashing around and hitting things. But in general a seizure doesn't do any lasting damage to the brain.