Lol...My little brother projectile vommited into a few rows of people in front of us...the meeting didn't even pause.
As a JW - Did you See Meetings Continue in Spite of Medical Emergencies?
by flipper 55 Replies latest jw friends
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cedars
I've seen lots of "medical emergencies" occurring at meetings and assemblies over the years whilst the talks/sessions were in progress. In all cases the general attitude seemed to be "the show must go on". If it happens in a KH, the best you can hope for is that the brother on the platform will pause a while whilst the injured/dying is carried out, and then resume his talk. At assemblies, hardly any acknowledgment is made of the emergency whatsoever. In a way, that's kind of a loving thing I suppose. If I was in the middle of an epileptic seizure, the last thing I would want is 15,000 people staring at me.
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nugget
We had an elderly sister take ill at the hall, she was old and had a history of illness. The meeting carried on despite the emergency and elders did not want her to be put in the recovery position but wanted her to move to the back of the hall so as not to disturb the meeting. They were not happy that I cut off the conference call to call for an ambulance. Muppets.
It happens all the time that people are moved out of the hall so as not to disturb brothers and sisters and ambulances are not called because of the noise and fuss. It is sad that they cannot see how hard hearted this is. I couldn't imagine that Jesus of the Bible would have carried on talking whilst someone died in the second school but I can certainly imagine the pharisees doing it.
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Alfred
We had one sister in her late 30s who would get epileptic siezures during meetings about 2 or 3 times a year (and at home, of course)... the meetings would simply go on while one elder and her caretaker would put her on the floor and pinch her tongue down with what appeared to be a spoon. The whole incident unfolded while most of the congregation continued to look forward at the brother giving the talk as if everything was OK. Not once was an ambulance called. One Sunday, in the middle of a Watchtower Study, she had a massive siezure and I remember how disgusted I felt when the microphone handler simply stepped over her (after she was placed on the floor in the middle aisle) just to get to a child in the back row who was called on to answer "Jehovah" to one of the questions...
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OnTheWayOut
While it wasn't an interuption of the program, I can relate an interesting story.
I was an attendant at a circuit assembly and I wound up taking a lady to first aid because she was short of breathe. In first aid, a very competent JW nurse was there and gave her oxygen and said she needed an ambulance. Some head honcho of the attendants had arrived by now, noticing that I brought her in. The nurse asked him to dial 911 on the wall phone right there. This guy says "I will have to get the brother in charge of first aid, do you know where he is?"
"No, the nurse said."
"Well, I can't let a sister make this decision."
She was flabbergasted. I took over. "She's a trained nurse and she says this lady needs an ambulance. Either call 911 or I will do it now from my cell phone." He gave in and dialed.
So while we were going to have to wait, I asked her who she was with. They needed to know she was going to the hospital. She told me the general area her friends were sitting in and what they looked like. It was a very generic description. I said I would find them. That same Honcho brother said, "What, are you just going to walk around the auditorium during the talk, asking people if they know her?"
"Yes, it shouldn't be hard."
"You can't do that."
"I am going to." I walked away and did just that. It only took about 3 minutes to locate the people she was with. It was no big deal or interuption of the talk.
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Alfred
OTWO... that's terrible! even worse than my experience...
So an assembly attendant can't even go looking for sister's caretaker in an auditorium if she has a medical emergency???... oh wait, I forget attendants are there primarily to take attendance... everything else is really not that important.
Good for you and your "independant thinking"... (btw... hope the sister was ok after that)
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Room 215
Two instance I can recall: at the Jersey City assembly hall, an elderery brother succumbed to a heart attact while the Circuit Overseer was on the platform. It happened at the rear of the round floor, or back of what was the ochestra section, of the building. The commotion caused the CO to angrily order an edit to the noise, and continued on his merry way with his useless lecture.
Another: On a PBS program a documentary which highlighted the work of paramedics, several of the first responders related an incident at a Kingdom Hall where they were called to rescue another victim of a heart attack. They said that as they were administering first aid, several JWs sought to push literature on them; it caused them to remark on the JWs strange set of priorities.
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slimboyfat
We had a sister who regularly had epilectic fits during the meeting. It was fairly routine, some would ensure she didn't bang her head or swallow her tongue, and some rolled their eyes because they reckoned she exagerrated them. Elders used to tell her not to go to assemblies because it was too much trouble for people to look after her, but she used to go anyway, to hell with them, and sure enough she had fits at the assembly too.
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slimboyfat
OTWO what a bunch of idiots. I hope the it made the nurse sister think again about the Witnesses. Women in particular are too good for this organization.
Remember GB member Lloyd Barry died while giving a talk and his stand in took over. They related it in the Yearbook with pride.
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Wasanelder Once
Sorry to dissapoint but I had a bible student who was about 65 attending the public talk. About 10 minutes into the talk he had a major heart attack. The chairs were pulled back and he was laid out on the floor as the emt's worked on him. Everyone sat quietly. They got a beat but not for very long. He was brain dead. They took him to the hospital and he died 9 days later. The brothers called the meetings off and sent everyone home. No talk, no WT study. Not all JW's are fricken robots, gotta give credit where credit is due. I'm sure this isn't the only incendence of this happening. Even if it is a cult not everyone is heartless. It was a wake up call for me that no day should be taken for granted. I'm sure you'll find many other heartless examples flip, its just that there is a balance here. In my town anyway. It still hurts, he was a really great guy.