How to Deal with a Seizure
This short guide is going to be by no means complete, and won’t be able to help every single case, but having some information is better than none, and taking a few moments to read may just save you, your friend, your family, or some random stranger from pain or even death. (This guide is written for Grand Mal Seizures - the “stereotypical” seizure that involves fainting and convulsion of the entire body).
DO:
- DO put the person having the seizure on the floor, laying them on their side. If they were standing, unfortunately, they probably ended up there on their own. Try to cushion the fall if possible, taking special precautions to the head. If they are sitting on a chair, then carefully bring them to the floor and lay them on their side in an open space.
- DO turn their head to the side on the floor. Many people having seizures vomit during the seizure, so do not put them on their back, or they may choke.
- DO loosen any collar or tie or anything constricting the body/neck/throat if possible.
- DO put something soft under the person’s head (a jacket or pillow if you have one).
- DO keep track of how long the seizure was, where it started (left leg? right arm?), the colour of their skin (was their face turning green? purple?), and anything else that stuck out to you (what were they doing right before they got the seizure? was there blood in the corner of the mouth (indication that they bit their tongue)? etc) so that you can convey it to the medical specialists who come.
- DO call the ambulance if the person is not known to have epilepsy or seizure disorder. If they do have seizure disorder/epilepsy, but the seizure continues for more than a few minutes, call the ambulance anyways. Especially if the color of the skin changes (could mean oxygen is not getting to the brain and rest of body).
DON’T:
- DON’T try to “stop” the seizure by hugging them or holding them down. It’s not going to happen. Let the seizure run its course. You can hurt either or both of you by clutching the person, whether it be the other person pulling muscles or you getting punched in the face.
- DON’T put anything in the person’s mouth. They can choke on it and die, or bite pieces of whatever it is and die. Some people vomit during seizures, and that and whatever is stuffed in the mouth will not go well together either - the fluid needs to come out, not get stuck in the mouth.
- DON’T stick your finger or spoon or anything into the other person’s mouth, even if they have something in there. At best, your finger is going to get bitten very badly, and at worst, the person is going to chip their tooth on the spoon or slice up their mouth.
This is very important: when they regain consciousness, please try to be as calm as possible, especially if the person has never had a grand mal seizure before. It is very disorienting to wake up from a seizure. Usually, the world is very dizzy and foggy. It takes at least a few minutes to land back to earth, even after the initial “waking up”. So speak calmly, explain the situation slowly, and don’t get irritated when they don’t seem to understand what you are saying, or stare at you blankly.
Remember: seizures can happen to anybody given the “correct” circumstances.
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