How to Deal with Convulsions and Seizures

Lucy Piper: Hello! I am Lucy Piper. One of the most frightening things that can happen is when your child has seizure convulsions, and there are lots of preconceived ideas about what you should do. Mums Laura and Palvi are with me right now along with Paul Sheehan from the St. John Ambulance is here to put it right. So what causes it, Paul? Paul Sheehan: In the very young you have infantile convulsions, which is common or can be common from 6 months to about 5 years, usually an indicator that there is an illness or could perhaps be through over-heating. Lucy Piper: Over-heating. Paul Sheehan: Yeah, and other case is it could be through epilepsy, but that would need to be diagnosed. Palvi Karia: So if they had a convulsion now, does it mean that carry on to later in life? Paul Sheehan: No, if they have for example, infantile convulsion, so let's say it could be through illness, it could be through over-heating. In most situations they may never suffer from that again. Palvi Karia: So is it always epileptic? Paul Sheehan: It does not always lead to epilepsy, no. Lucy Piper: Right. What is the difference between a convulsion and a seizure? Paul Sheehan: Well, the convulsion as I have said is usually caused through an illness or through over-heating, and if you look at seizures or epilepsy to give its proper term that is because there is an electrical disturbance in the brain. Laura McKie: So what do you do because it would be very frightening to do this to my son? What would you --? Paul Sheehan: Well, if it seems it's on convulsion, it's fairly easy to see if it's due to over-heating because of their appearance. In those cases what you would do is remove any heavy clothing, you try to cool them down and if necessary we can use tepid sponging. So lukewarm water just wipe them down with lukewarm water and that will help to bring the body temperature down. Laura McKie: And can you tell by looking at it, whether it's a seizure or a convulsion? Paul Sheehan: Well, if it's through over-heating, then obviously you can see that because that will look quite red and obviously appear very warm, will have those abrasion etcetera. If it's due to the convulsions then it's usually quite noticeable if they are having a major seizure then you will see quite a lot of shaking and the coloring of the skin will be different because of course they are not getting enough oxygen. Lucy Piper: I think I was wrong in thinking that you actually try and pull the tongue out. I thought that was a rumor that they could swallow their tongue, is that a little rubbish? Paul Sheeshan: No, it's impossible to swallow your tongue because it's actually connected to the base of the mouth and trying to pull the tongue out is actually dangerous then so, because if you have a propulsion most people actually clench the teeth because their whole body goes rigid, and if you try to do it you will either lose your finger or you could break your jaw or break teeth. Lucy Piper: And I suppose it's quite dangerous if you try to restrict them. So do you actually let them go through the seizure for you to anything? Paul Sheehan: You are actually, if you just allow the seizure to continue, it will last for maybe three to four minutes from start to finish. Once the shaking stops and from there you are going to your ABC and you check the airway, you check the breathing, and if they are breathing, we simply put them into the recovery position and we monitor the breathing and just let them wake up. Lucy Piper: Recovery position is that just turning them on their side. Paul Sheehan: When we roll them on to their side, and make sure that the airway stays clear. So if we are going to put somebody into the recovery position, we are following the Dr. ABC dropsy. So we check for the dangers. First thing we are going to check his airway. So if you put one hand on his forehead, tilt his head back a little bit, and let his mouth open, and just make sure that there is nothing in there you can choke on. Now if you keep your fingers under his chin, and tilt his head back a little bit further, put your ear to his mouth and just check to make sure he is breathing. If you look towards his tummy, you count to ten, you watch his tummy movement, you feel him breathing, you hear him breathing. Is he breathing? Laura McKie: Yup! Paul Sheehan: Okay. So now we have decided we are going to roll him over. So the arm that's nearest to you, simply put it out to the side. That's good, kneeling next to him. Just check his pocket to make sure he has got nothing sharp in there or anything that will hurt him. Excellent! Now to roll him over, very, very simple. The arm furthest away, if you interlock your fingers with using your right hand, that's it, keep your legs straight for us. If you bring his hand over and put it against his cheek on the side closest to you, and then hold his hand there. Now he has done it for us, that's the leg we need to lift though. So if you lift this leg, put your hand on top of his knee, pull his knee towards you and he will simply rollover for you, that's excellent! Now fingers under his chin again, just tilt his head up a little bit, that's it, just check to make sure he is breathing, that's it, and then just to make him stable, we bring that foot on to the floor, and pull his knee so that his knee comes right angles from his body and that way when you go off to make the phone call, he will stay in this position, and if he is sick the vomit comes out, goes onto the floor. Lucy Piper: And obviously, if this happens to any of our moms or any moms out there, you probably would call an ambulance. Paul Sheeshan: Most certainly, if it's never happened before, call an ambulance, get them medical attention immediately. Lucy Piper: Thank you very much, Paul! Paul Sheeshan: To sum up, what to do if your child has a seizure or convulsions, don't panic, make the area safe around them, but don't restrict their movement. Don't try to open their airways until the convulsion has passed. And lastly, if it's never happened before, call an ambulance.