First aid advice – What to do when someone is having a seizure

At some stage in your life, you may find yourself in a situation where someone is having a seizure. At National Epilepsy Training, we think it’s so important that people know what to do in this situation and how they can confidently help the person who is having the seizure.

In this post, you will find advice on how to provide effective first aid for someone having a seizure. We’ll provide advice on how to recognise two types of seizure, tonic-clonic and focal, how to help and when to seek medical help or call 999.

Tonic-Clonic Seizures

The first step in being able to help is to identify the type of seizure that the person is having. Tonic-clonic seizures (previously known as Grand-mal) are the type that most people recognise and are most common. Identifying features of a tonic-clonic seizure include:

• Will go rigid and stiff
• Loss of consciousness
• Falling to the floor
• Convulsions and jerking

It’s also possible that the person will start to go blue around the mouth and potentially lose control of their bladder and bowels, although this is not always the case. It’s also possible that they will bite their tongue or the inside of their mouth during a Tonic-clonic seizure so don’t panic if you see blood coming from the mouth.

What to do (and not do) if someone is having a Tonic-clonic seizure

You can’t stop the seizure, but there are a few things you can do to help the person who’s having a seizure.

Here’s what you SHOULD do:

• Keep calm.
• Protect the person from harming themselves by removing anything potentially that they can harm themselves from e.g. furniture or sharp objects.
• Cushion their head to prevent injury.
• Time how long the jerking lasts (if it continues for 5 minutes, call for an ambulance immediately).
• Once the jerking has stopped place them in the recovery position to protect the airway and assist their breathing,
• Stay with the person until they are fully recovered.
• Throughout the seizure, it’s extremely important that you offer reassurance.
• The person may carry an identity card or have alert jewellery that may provide more information on their epilepsy.

Here’s what you SHOULD NOT do:

• Do not panic.
• Do not try to restrict their movements as this may cause injury.
• Do not put anything in their mouth.
• Do not try to move them (unless there is an immediate and obvious danger in their current position).
• Do not give them anything to eat or drink until fully recovered.
• Do not attempt to bring them round.

Call an ambulance if any of these happen:

• You know it is their first seizure.
• The jerking and convulsions continue longer than 5 minutes.
• They have one seizure after another without regaining consciousness.
• They injure themselves during seizure activity.
• If you feel at any point you need assistance do not hesitate to call 999.

Focal Seizures

Focal seizures are otherwise known as partial seizures. There are two main types of focal seizures – focal aware and focal impaired. As you might expect focal aware means the person remains aware of their surroundings, and impaired means unaware.

There are a wide variety of motor and non-motor symptoms to look out for:

Motor:

• Part of the body might go stiff, or may go limp.
• Rhythmic jerking movements in one part of the body.
• Brief, irregular jerks.
• The head and eyes may turn to one side.
• Lip smacking.
• Repeated swallowing or chewing.
• Repeated movements – rocking, pedalling or pelvic thrusting.
• Getting undressed.
• Running or walking around.

Non-motor:

• Strong emotions – fear, anxiety, anger or pleasure
• Impairment of senses – vision, hearing, smell or taste
• Being hot or cold
• Hallucinations
• Vomiting
• Irregular breathing, heart-rate or changes in skin tone
• Difficulty speaking or understanding

What to do (and not do) if someone is having a Focal seizure

There are a few ways you can help a person that’s having a focal seizure, the main thing is to remain calm.

Here’s what you SHOULD do:

• Protect them from any potential danger (water, fire, electricity etc.)
• Stay with them until they fully recover
• Keep calm and offer reassurance

Here’s what you SHOULD NOT do:

• Don’t panic.
• Don’t restrain their movements.
• Don’t be abrupt or shout.
• Don’t make any sudden movements.
• Don’t assume they are aware of their surroundings.
• Don’t give them anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered.

Call an ambulance if:

• You know it is their first seizure.
• The jerking and convulsions continue longer than 5 minutes.
• They have one seizure after another without regaining consciousness.
• They injure themselves during seizure activity.
• If you feel at any point you need assistance do not hesitate to call 999.

And there you have it, the information in this post should provide you with the basic knowledge of how to care for someone who is having a seizure. If you would like more advice or to enquire about a training course to gain a more advanced knowledge then please feel contact us on 01706 373075 or email us at admin@nationalepilepsytraining.co.uk.