Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
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Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
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Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#2"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason," USC senior Alastair Fairbanks said. "Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening."
I fear for the future.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#3Shit, I hope he's okay; he's one of the best faces this country has for the popularization of science.
I just saw him recently at a talk on exoplanet discovery. He was there as one of the introductory speakers in his role as Executive Director of the Planetary Society.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#4"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason,"
Why didn't she? Perhaps she was in the middle of a row. But often the reason that no one helps is that everyone is expecting someone else to do it -- someone more official or someone better located.
If a person needs help, don't look around for who else is moving. Go help.
--
A story, while we're on the subject: I'm eating at this sushi place with a girl when I hear a chair hit the floor. I look up, and there's this big fellow a few tables over who appears to be choking. He's with a date, but it's clear she's shocked and doesn't know what to do. As I'm sliding out of the booth to get to my feet, a guy blows past me. He must have noticed the poor fellow choking sooner, because he came flying from the bar at the other side of the restaurant. He just seemed to appear out of nowhere.
He gives the big fellow the Heimlich Maneuver. The guy starts coughing after two or three hard thrusts. The rescuer makes sure the guy is OK, then disappears out the front door and into the night.
The total time from him blowing past me to breezing out the front door was no more than 30 seconds. It was a terribly efficient rescue.
I've always imagined he wanted out of there quickly and anonymously because of liability concerns.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#5"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason," USC senior Alastair Fairbanks said. "Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening." I fear for the future.
Indeed, the whole description was very unnerving. It appears the fellow was having a stroke and nobody was inclined to do anything about it. Scary.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#6I'm not sure if this is the right time/place for it, but I've always wanted to trot out this factoid:
Archie Comics 'parodied' Bill Nye in one of their comics as "Phil MacPherson, The Science Person".
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#7Everyone should read the comments on this article. There's posts from other in attendance that gives a different take on the events. It's very easy in events like this for people to get their details mixed up.
On the side, I hope he's well. "The earth is tilted tilted tilted" has been burned into my head so well. I will never forget what causes the seasons.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#8"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason," USC senior Alastair Fairbanks said. "Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening." I fear for the future.
It sounds horrid, but it's not entirely a new phenomenon. In First Aid training, I was taught never to yell "someone call an ambulance" when assisting a victim because people will just stand there like lemons looking at you. Instead, you are supposed to pick someone at random in the crowd, look them in the eye and yell "you, there, tall guy in the red shirt - call an ambulance" - and the person will jump right to it, or find someone who can.
That said, I agree that sitting around doing nothing but also recording the event does raise the unpleasantness of it.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#9"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason," USC senior Alastair Fairbanks said. "Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening." I fear for the future.
Indeed, the whole description was very unnerving. It appears the fellow was having a stroke and nobody was inclined to do anything about it. Scary.
This is actually a well known phenomenon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect). It's why, in a crisis, you should always single people out to do tasks instead of saying "someone do this". Otherwise everyone will just assume that someone else will do it.
Re: Bill Nye collapses during speech at USC
#10"Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed -- that just perplexed me beyond reason," Why didn't she? Perhaps she was in the middle of a row. But often the reason that no one helps is that everyone is expecting someone else to do it -- someone more official or someone better located. If a person needs help, don't look around for who else is moving. Go help. -- A story, while we're on the sub…
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