The initial reaction is to call for an ambulance, but in most cases you can assist them yourself. The first action you need to take is to try and lay the person flat down on the floor and roll them over to their left side so should they vomit they won’t choke.
Once they are in a horizontal position make sure they are able to breath, if anything is blocking their mouth remove it immediately.
If their head is constantly knocking against the floor you should cushion their skull, a scarf, pillow or an item of clothing will do the job. You should also loosen any tight clothing the person is wearing such as a shirt collar, a tie or belts. Mind you this isn’t an excuse to strip them!
Having a seizure can be exhausting and there’s no harm cooling the person down with a wet cloth on their forehead. You are also advised to move any nearby furniture and sharp objects. There are two reasons for this. You don’t want the person to hurt themselves and glass tables can be quite expensive to repair!
As well as being tiring the person may feel embarrassed, especially if the seizure happens in public so try to give them as much privacy as you possibly can, but never restrain somebody when they are having a seizure as this can be extremely dangerous.
If they are on their back, move them to the recovery position which is demonstrated by the image which accomplices this article. (Roll the person onto their side. If they are on their left side, then lift their right leg in front of them to stop them rolling. Next, bend their right arm so their cheek is under their hand. If they are on their right side do the opposite.)
People who are epileptic may carry some form of medical identity, this can be and ID card or some form of jewellery. Try to have a look to see if you can find any.
It’s also a good idea to keep a note of what happens during the seizure and the body parts which are affected; this will be useful to the person and doctors and stay with them until they recover, calming the person down whenever possible.
On some occasions you must call for an ambulance. If you aren’t sure the person is epileptic, the seizure happens in water, inhaling fumes or poison or if the person is pregnant.
Ambulance services also need to be called if the person stops breathing over 30 seconds, if the seizure lasts for over 3 minutes, their evident signs of impairments to speech, vision or movement or they have a second seizure or do not make a full recovery an hour after their seizure stops.
