PSA for the Day: If you have photosensitive epilepsy, please read this. There have been multiple accounts of the birthing scene in the movie Breaking Dawn, Part 1, triggering seizures and fainting episodes. Please share this information with anyone you know who has epilepsy or is susceptible to seizures, who might see this movie. This could be a serious health issue for some people.

Epilepsy is a personal daily horror for me. I don’t spend every waking minute thinking about whether I’m going to have a seizure, but I have to consider it when I wake up in the morning before I reach for the coffee. Will that extra caffeine send me over the edge? Maybe I should just have decaf instead? I never know what the trigger might be. Sometimes I get to the theater for a performance I’ve bought tickets for in advance and a sign right outside the door says “Strobe lights will be used in this performance”. I’ve already spent money on tickets, gotten a sitter, and dressed up, and NOW they tell me?

When I was little, and my seizures had just been diagnosed, doctors reassured my parents that I’d probably grow out of them. Well, that didn’t happen. I’m not a little kid anymore, and, while I mostly had control for a good ten years, it’s gone now. I will say, it was a good ten years. I’m very lucky that I have a great support system and that my seizures don’t steal my days for weeks on end. But it is scary. And a good three quarters of the time nobody believes it’s real when it happens, or knows what to do.

So, just in case you happen to be at the movies sometime soon and see someone there having a seizure, here are some first aid instructions, provided by the Epilepsy Foundation. There are different kinds of seizures, so depending on what you encounter, your strategy might vary.

First aid for dealing with tonic-clonic convulsions:

-Keep calm and reassure other people who may be nearby.

-Don’t hold the person down or try to stop his movements.

-Time the seizure with your watch.

-Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp.

-Loosen ties or anything around the neck that may make breathing difficult.

-Put something flat and soft, like a folded jacket, under the head.

-Turn him or her gently onto one side. This will help keep the airway clear.
Do not try to force the mouth open with any hard implement or with fingers. It is not true that a person having a seizure can swallow his tongue. Efforts to hold the tongue down can cause injury.

-Don’t attempt artificial respiration except in the unlikely event that a person does not start breathing again after the seizure has stopped.
-Stay with the person until the seizure ends naturally.

-Be friendly and reassuring as consciousness returns.

-Offer to call a taxi, friend or relative to help the person get home if he seems confused or unable to get home by himself.

First Aid for Non-Convulsive Seizures:

You don’t have to do anything if a person has brief periods of staring or shaking of the limbs. If someone has the kind of seizure that produces a dazed state and automatic behavior, the best thing to do is:

-Watch the person carefully and explain to others what is happening. Often people who don’t recognize this kind of behavior as a seizure think that the dazed person is drunk or on drugs.

-Speak quietly and calmly in a friendly way.

-Guide the person gently away from any danger, such as a steep flight of steps, a busy highway, or a hot stove. Don’t grab hold, however, unless some immediate danger threatens. People having this kind of seizure are on “automatic pilot” so far as their movements are concerned. Instinct may make them struggle or lash out at the person who is trying to hold them.

-Stay with the person until full consciousness returns, and offer help in returning home.

 

First Aid for Complex Partial Seizures:

In a complex partial seizure, the person is in a “trance” state and is unresponsive. They may make automatic movements, wander around, and behave in unfocused ways. It’s important to remember that a person in the midst of a seizure is strong and is not in control of body movements or emotional responses. Trying to restrain a person who is having a complex partial seizure is not a good idea unless the person is in imminent danger (such as walking in front of a car). Here’s what to do:

-Do not restrain the person.

-Remove dangerous objects from the person’s path.

-Calmly direct the person to sit down and guide him or her from dangerous situations. Use force only in an emergency to protect the person from immediate harm, such as walking in front of an oncoming car.

-Observe, but do not approach, a person who appears angry or combative.

-Remain with the person until he or she is fully alert.

 

Most seizures are not medical emergencies. They happen, they’re over, life goes on. BUT, if a seizure continues for more than five minutes it is at risk of becoming status epilepticus, which IS a life-threatening emergency. Or, if someone who has had a convulsive seizure does not regain consciousness, that is a medical emergency. I hope nobody who reads this ever has to use these first aid instructions, but I try to share them every year this time just in case. And now you can be prepared to help out someone who needs it, the next time you go to the movies.

If you’re feeling moved to make a donation, the Epilepsy Foundation of Indiana is doing some good stuff in an area where there aren’t a lot of services. One out of every 100 people has epilepsy, so whatever you do, please be aware, at least one of the people sitting in a crowded movie theater with you, may be needing your assist.