Epilepsy Awareness

There are over 330,000 Canadians that live with epilepsy, and one in ten Canadians will experience one seizure in their lifetime. Since November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, we thought we would share some information about epilepsy and how you can help someone when they may be having a seizure.  


If someone has one seizure, it doesn't necessarily mean they have epilepsy. Epilepsy is diagnosed when multiple seizures occur.


According to Epilepsy Canada, epilepsy and seizures result from abnormal circuit activity in the brain. In addition, brain development, brain inflammation, physical injury or infection can lead to seizures and epilepsy, but for up to 50% of patients diagnosed with epilepsy, their cause is unknown.


If you see someone having a seizure, make sure not to panic.
If you see someone having any type of seizure, here are some general steps to help:

• Stay with the person until the seizure ends and they are fully awake. After it ends, help the person sit in a safe place. Once they are alert and able to communicate, tell them what happened in very simple terms.
• Comfort the person and speak calmly.
• Check to see if the person is wearing a medical bracelet or other emergency information.
• Keep yourself and other people calm.
• Offer to call a taxi or another person to make sure the person gets home safely.

When most people think of a seizure, they think of a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, also called a grand mal seizure.
In this type of seizure, the person may cry out, fall, shake or jerk, and become unaware of what's going on around them.


Here are things you can do to help someone who is having this type of seizure:

• Ease the person to the floor.
• Turn the person gently onto one side. This will help the person breathe.
• Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp. This can prevent injury.
• Put something soft and flat, like a folded jacket, under their head.
• Remove eyeglasses.
• Loosen ties or anything around the neck that may make it hard to breathe.
• Time the seizure. Call 911 if the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes.

When someone is having a seizure, never do any of the following things:

• Do not hold the person down or try to stop their movements.
• Do not put anything in the person's mouth. This can injure teeth or the jaw. A person having a seizure cannot swallow their tongue.
• Do not try to give mouth-to-mouth breaths (like CPR). People usually start breathing again on their own after a seizure.
• Do not offer the person water or food until they are fully alert.

This Epilepsy Awareness Month, spend some time educating yourself about epilepsy and learning how to help someone when they may be having a seizure with epilepsy first aid. It's always good to be prepared.


Sources:
https://www.epilepsy.ca/
Seizure First Aid | Epilepsy | CDC