Middle-Aged and Elderly White Males Especially Prone to HIS
The National Association of EMTs is warning its members to brace for a rash of strokes, heart attacks and seizures during Cinco de Mayo festivities early in May. The reason: the emergence of a new malady known as HIS, which stands for “Hispanic induced seizure.”
Cases of HIS have been reported in numerous areas across the country, primarily where there are large populations of brown-skinned people who speak Spanish and carry the Mexican flag.
Emergency medical first responders in Los Angeles reported more than 20 HIS cases last week when 500,000 people massed in downtown Los Angeles to protest proposed legislation in Congress that could criminalize being an illegal alien.
“The typical victim of HIS tends to be white, male and middle-aged or older,” said Johnson Wainright, the EMT association’s executive director. “Most of the reports we’re getting indicate the victim abruptly collapsed when they encountered someone they presumed was an illegal immigrant from Mexico or Latin America and heard Spanish being spoken.”
The typical medical diagnosis has been stroke, heart attack, labored breathing, or petit mal seizures, Wainright said.
“I’m unaware of any deaths, at least not yet,” he said. “But there could be. That’s why we’re worried about Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo, which means “fifth of May” in Spanish, is widely celebrated by people of Mexican heritage. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces over the French army in 1862. The holiday is widely celebrated in Mexico and is similar to the Fourth of July in the United States.
Mexican immigrants to the United States, legal and illegal, mark the day with enthusiastic parades, picnics and other festivities.
“What worries us as emergency medical technicians is that this year Cinco de Mayo falls on a Friday, which will likely mean three days non-stop of brown-skinned people speaking Spanish , carrying the Mexican flag, honking their horns and waving their flags from car windows,” Wainright said.
“That kind of activity is absolutely going to cause a lot of people to fall down and pant from all kinds of medical problems. We want all EMTs to be extra alert about HIS so they can recognize it and treat the patients accordingly,” he said.
A database that the EMT association is compiling has found a clustering of HIS cases in Wal-Mart stores among elderly, white male retirees who encounter someone with brown skin speaking Spanish.
Wainright said a typical case was a 67-year-old retired appliance repairman who found himself sandwiched between two Hispanic families standing in a checkout line in a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Dublin, North Carolina.
“He was surrounded by brown-skinned people and being bombarded by Spanish from all directions. He collapsed and was shaking uncontrollably and breathing with difficulty when the EMTs arrived,” Wainright said. “They got him stabilized and a glucose drip started, and he came out of it alright after staying overnight in the hospital.”