by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

When I read Senator Ted Kennedy had a seizure at a public dinner on inauguration day, it got me thinking, does the average person know what to do if someone’s having a seizure?

As a teenager, I witnessed a seizure while I was at a park, and it scared me to death. (I scared easily as a teen.)  The man jerked and flailed uncontrollably in an unconscious state surrounded by onlookers, and no one knew what to do.

People yelled, “Hold him down so he won’t hurt himself!”  “Put something in his mouth so he won’t swallow his tongue!”  “Call an ambulance!”  After, what seemed like an eternity, he just lay limp and moaned.  Later I saw his friends help him up and they drove away.

Now that I am a doctor (said in hushed, hallowed tone) I know what I should have done.

Just what I did, nothing.  Anything I would have tried would only have made the situation worse.

Here are some tips on what to do if you see someone having a seizure.

1. Give the person room. Help them gently to the floor and remove any potential dangerous objects.  Then just let the seizure play out.  Don’t hold them down or put anything in their mouth.  You’ll only harm yourself or the person.  No one has ever literally swallowed their tongue.
2. When the jerking stops, place the person on their side. This will help keep the airway open and let any fluids, such as vomitus, drain out.  If the person fights you, just try turning only the head to the side.  Still fighting?  Just make sure they’re breathing without difficulty and try turning the head if you notice vomiting.
3. Look for a bracelet, necklace, tag or friend for information about a past seizure history.
4. Leave the person alone otherwise. They’ll be groggy, confused and annoyed as they wake up.
5. Call an ambulance if the seizure lasts more than three to five minutes, they’re not gradually waking up or are having trouble breathing, or you’re unsure of the seizure history.

You really can’t go wrong as long as you don’t panic, use common sense and remember, “Do no harm.”
Have you ever had or witnessed a seizure?

To get things started I asked real life, in-the-field paramedic, Beth Nelson,  to comment on my post.  Here’s what she said:

Very good, for a doctor ; )

I’d put Call 911 at #1 (maybe I’m bias though).  Since the context is that this person is a stranger, not one with a known epilepsy, it’d be safer to just call 911.  If they wake up and tell the medics that they have a hx of epilepsy and have someone with them that can drive them home/watch them for a while, the medics will let them go about their business.  But if it’s trauma, diabetic, alcohol, drugs, etc etc, they may have just saved a life simply by calling 911 so we can try to fix the underlying…….

but, like I said, maybe i’m just bias  : )

Excellent subject to tackle though, can’t tell you how many high schools we’ve been to where we had a sz patient that I had to take a tongue blade / bite block / etc. out.  Some first aid kits still have the old bite blocks with instructions to do the old-school shove it in their mouth thing.

Thanks to Beth who is, I am proud to say, my daughter.

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Tags: epilepsy, first aid, seizures

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This entry's content reflects the opinions and reporting of the author and not necessarily that of JHMFD. This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under General Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.