911 operators aren't paramedics. They also don't know what you know (or don't) and they can't see what is going on. They are used to dealing with the lowest denominator. I would assume they operate like the Pakistani computer 'techs' you get on the phone: type in problem, speak protocol.

I was with a couple when she went into a grand mal epileptic seizure. Her husband whipped out his handkerchief, folded it a bit more than it was, and wedged a corner of it between her back teeth on one side. He said she had bitten her tongue very badly during one seizure. I had heard this before -- is it still a good idea?

Lono, from something I saw several times as a vet tech, your light compressions may have had an effect. Once in a while we would get a dog or cat that would kind of 'forget' to breathe while under anesthesia. Unless they were less tolerant of the drug, it wasn't likely that they were given too much (my vet was extremely careful about that). I would be monitoring the animal while the doctor was doing the surgery, and I would warn him that it had stopped breathing. He would stop as quickly as he could (clamp if necessary, then raise his hands), and I would give the dog or cat just one or two compressions of the rib cage, and they would start breathing normally again. This may have been what you did, just a kind of reminder?

Sue