Got a candy cane in your first aid kit?

Shaun has been kept extremely busy at work (as usual), but I managed to pry him away for a Saturday so we could complete our First Aid/CPR certification that's needed to become foster parents. The instructor was really great, and used a lot of first-hand accounts she'd heard from other students which kept it interesting. Shaun & I added a couple of our own stories to her repertoire, but the one we laughed the most about I don't think she'll be able to share.

It came up in class when we were watching the DVD segment on diabetics. It was talking about how to attend to someone if they're going into a diabetic episode and I started giggling. Then Shaun started giggling. By the end of the segment I'm in pain from trying not to laugh as I'm sure it's meant to be a serious moment of life-saving. The teacher and other classmate wanted to know what they were missing. This was told to us by Natalie's mission companion, Linda, who reminds me a great deal of the comedienne Kathy Griffin because of her tell-it-up-front style. Okay...

Linda was visiting her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin during the Christmas holidays. Apparently the Uncle has diabetes but does not really control his eating and tends to have quite a few episodes which they usually treat with a glass of orange juice or whatever. Well, this time it was more serious, and before they could have him drink anything he went into diabetic coma. Naturally they called 911, but in the meantime they wanted to try to help. The emergency operator said don't give him anything to drink since it would probably just make him choke. The cousin mentioned that she had heard that sugar can be absorbed into the blood stream through other areas on the body... like the rectum. This in fact is true. It takes a very long time for it to do so though. This she did not know. In her worried rush to help her dad, the cousin suggested that maybe they could find something with a high sugar content and it might revive him. No joke - they decided a candy cane would do the trick. Then began the "You do it. No, you do it." verbal war between the Aunt and the cousin. The cousin lost, and - I swear to you - inserted a candy cane you-know-where! This seemed to have no effect, then the paramedics arrived. They were able to revive him with a shot, and the first thing he shouted was "What the h*&l is in my a%$!"

I can't see a candy cane or a diabetic episode now without completely cracking up. Aaah, I needed a good laugh. Who'd have thought I'd find it at my First Aid class? :)