What to do when a seizure happens?
 

So I was in class on Friday, and the guy right next to me had a seizure and fell out of his chair convulsing. It was quite frightening and I had no idea what to do. I did the obvious thing which was to get stuff out of his way so he wouldnt hurt himself by hitting it etc. Thankfully there was a student who had taken some ems classes, and he even had some medical gloves in his backpack. He took control of the situation and turned the guy on his side... after the convulsing stopped it really sounded like he was having trouble breathing, and it sounded like he had alot of mucus or something in his mouth/airway. Someone in class called the campus police and after quite a long period of time they came and told everyone to leave the classroom.

Anyways, I did some reading after this happened so I would know what to do in the future, and read some contradicting information. Some websites said that you should put the person on his/her back and tilt their headback to clear the airway, while others said to push them on their side (which is what the student did). Does anyone know which one is the more correct way to do it?

He was probably snoring,( he was swallowing his tongue ). I heard to leave them be in whatever position, but to make sure his clenched teeth doesn't cut his tongue.

IIRC, I think you're supposed to turn them on the side so they can't bite on their tongue or choke on themselves.

A girl in one of my classes last month was epileptic, and she said that if she ever had a seizure in class, to leave her alone. She said she would know a little ahead of time when one was coming on and she knew what to do. She'd lay herself on the floor on her side.

I've been told the best thing to do is to just get things out of the way. If possible place a pillow or something under their head. Don't ever try to hold them down or put anything in their mouth.

I've always heard that you want to put a belt or wallet in their mouth to keep them from biting or swallowing their tongue, loosen clothing and call 911.

The 911 operator told _me_ (in a situation I won't go into) to tilt the head back and clear the airway. That's what I can tell you.

The snoring is a sign of distress. In a real good grand mal, the subject may also urinate. Always call 911. Even if they seem to be coming out of it after a few minutes, waking up; they could seize again. Had that happen; thought it was all over, she was talking, starting to get up, then the eyes rolled up and she had another seizure. Later I asked her if she remembered being conscious between the seizures, and she didn't. She wasn't all the way back, even though she seemed to be. _Always_ call 911.

My wife has epilepsy, so I'll lay down the proper procedure for helping with seizures.

First, don't put anything near the mouth. Try swallowing your tongue right now and realize that it's impossible. It doesn't happen.

Second, move any objects that could be potentially hazardous. Desks, chairs, tables, or anything within range of a kick should be moved.

Third, beyond protecting them from the corner of a wall or something similar, don't touch them. I made the mistake of trying to reposition my wife during a seizure and her little self came at me harder than any man ever has. Somehow, a strength is mustered up and can be released violently.

It isn't always necessary to call 911, but if you don't have any other way of dealing with it, go ahead and call.

Well I just finished Standard first Aid and CPR this week and I found out that you are not supposed to touch the person. you are to move anything around them so they don't flail into it and stand back ... there is no need to put anything in their mouth because it is a subconscience thing that keeps a person from biting their own tounge off.

If you know a person has a history of seizures, calling 911 may only be neccessary if it goes on longer than normal. A girl I take care of has seizures on average once or twice a week, but I don't even think about calling unless they last longer than 5 minutes. The first time I saw one though, that 45 seconds seemed to go on FOREVER. As people say, give them their space, but don't try to force their body to do anything if possible. Their body and their mind are not in synch, and they can hurt you more than you could probably hurt them.

I do EMS for a living. Here is what I get...xwesleyx is 100% correct. DO NOT... I repeat DO NOT put ANYTHING in their mouth.. it is impossible to swallow your tounge.. Just take anything around them that might hurt them.. DO NOT put a pillow under their head... and DO NOT hold them down. The biggest problem with Seizures is AIRWAY COMPRIMISE. When a person seizes, they often are not breathing. It would be helpful to us if you time the length of each seizure and the time inbetween each seizure. The person may stop seizing then have another... In the period where they arent seizing, is where you want to position them on their sides, talk to them make sure they know where they are, and what happened. Many people who often have seizures know what the start of a seizure feels like. Some even know to move to the floor. When EMS arrives, tell them exactly what time the seizure started, how long each one lasted and the time inbetween, and weather or not they were concious in between each seizure. If they stop seizing and are unconcious, you default to the CPR protocol (Check airway, breathing and circulation) and as long as they are breathing, then great...put the on their sides, and if they start seizing again, don't let them fall prone (face down) try to position them on their back.. Thats it.. any other EMS questions feel free to ask.. :)

I recommend a basic CPR class for EVERYONE! you never know when someone in your family/friend circle will need your help. The key to helping someone is EARLY INTERVENTION! Even if you don't do it 100% correctly, it increases their chances for survival. (Just a side fact) in a heart attack, if you don't get CPR and a Defibulator on the patient within 10 min, The chances of getting that person back are slim at best! I dunno about you, but depending on where you live, ambulances don't always come that quick!

I work with a guy who has epilepsy, and the medical advice we got was when he goes into a sizure simply to leave him, and call medical assistance if the fit carries on for 10 mins

wow.. ten min... well they say the doc knows best... but.. like I said.. the biggest problem with seizures is that many time they stop breathing.... I would not want to stop breathing for up to ten min... The time at which you call and ambulance is completly up to you....

Wow, yeah, seizures suck. This isn't really the same, but we had a dog that had seizures. She knew when they were coming, so she would run to the closest person. They were pretty horrible. With dogs, you just stay away from them, cause they might bite or scratch. I suppose it's the same with people, for some of the same reasons. :p

My mom actually had a wierd experience when she was on a city bus. A guy had just gotten off, and he fell over with a seizure. The bus driver wouldn't leave until someone agreed to help him, so my mom (a doc) agreed, and my dad had just pulled up behind to bus in our minivan. It was the oddest coincidence...The guy didn't remember who he was or where he lived, but he carried a card with him just in case something like this happened, so my mom and dad drove him home.

My mom is epileptic.

I will say you SHOULD remove any foreign object that may be in their mouth. My mom once started seizing while eating a piece of toast. My brother had to pull her jaw open so my dad could pull it out--she was turning blue. Luckily my dad's a former lifeguard.

Funnily enough, when my dad went to pick up the toast and throw it away, it was gone...the dog ate it.

tres - that's some pretty good advice that you've given up there. Not sure if I agree with the "wait 10 minute" period before calling the fine EMS folks such as yourself either. Then again, what do I know, I'm only an internal med doc. I'm usually not all that happy when one of my peep's seizures goes on for more than a couple of minutes. I think the safest thing is to always call for help if you are not trained.

I lived with a boyfriend for 6 years who had grand mal seizures on a regular basis. As far as I know, the advice here is correct - nothing in the mouth, don't try to restrain or move them, head to the side is best if possible.

The one thing I would do is catch him as he went down whenever I could and lower him to the floor gently, to try and lessen the blow to his body parts striking anything around. Also I would put my hand under his head so he wouldn't hit it on the floor, although at times I feared that could have resulted in broken fingers or something.

He would always make that snoring sound towards the end of the seizure. When he woke up he would be extremely disoriented, and I'd have to tell him over and over again where he was (he was also blind). He's hear a car go by and ask what street we were on, and then when the next car went by he'd ask again. The lesson there of course is don't leave someone alone to take care of themself afterwards, even after they wake up.

He never needed emergency care, just rest afterward - he'd usually go to bed for the rest of the day with a headache.

A couple of months after I left him and moved out, he had a seizure one day while making coffee and ended up in the hospital with serious burns on his hand and arm. It was pretty hard not to feel guilty about that, even though I knew the same thing would have likely happened even if I had been there. :(

Hit the nail right on the head here. I've been trained in pharmacy school to deal with this, and I couldn't put it better myself.

NEVER EVER EVER put anything in their mouth.

To a point, I suppose your right. The I can never say that I know more about seizures than the people that have them often. In their cases, its important for them to be in contact with their doctors on their specific situation, and for the family of that person to be well informed as well.

Are you conscious/aware during a seizure? Like if someone said something while you were having a seizure could you remember they said it afterwords?

No, you're not really awake or aware during a seizure happens. In fact, there's usually a period after the seizure where people are typically pretty confused and may have little recollection of events. This is known as a post-ictal period.

If I could have had my say in the matter, he would have been under a doctor's care. Maybe not the day of the seizure, but in general. But he said that he's already seen the doctors and tried their medications, and they didn't work for him. He was very stubborn about it. He said that the medications interfered with his ability to listen to traffic, causing him to be at greater risk for being run over by a car on a daily basis than on those days when he had the seizures. As far as family goes...pretty much that was me, and I was quite informed.

Tres, why do you say to never put a pillow under their head? Is it just because you are likely to get kicked or hit by the person having the seizure? Just curious, thanks for setting us all straight.

Putting a pillow under the head sounds like the best thing to do.. however.. The reason why the medical community stongly advises against it, is because like I've said before. the Person tends to stop breathing during a seizure. The first thing you want to do is make sure that their airway is not obstructed. By putting a pillow under their head, you are mis-aligning their airway, Potentially closing it, and since they are seizing, they have no control over it. Try touching your chest with your chin, and notice how much more difficult it is to breath in that position. While that is worst case example, it gives you an idea of whats happening. During a situation where a persons airway is comprimised, you want them to have their head hyper extended in the opposite direction, with the chin up in the air. This aligns the airway, and helps prevent the tounge from blocking it.

Tres, gotcha, now it makes sense. Now people at work think I'm a little kooky for trying to touch my chin to my chest and breath. Oh well, thanks for the education.

^^^ i just did the same thing you did outdoor, got some weird looks lol.