First Aid for Someone Having a Tonic-Clonic Seizure

A basketball game in our company's inter-departmental tournament last year was halted for more than an hour when one player suddenly had a seizure. A doctor and a group of paramedics (including my brother-in-law) were on hand to attend to the victim. It was the first (and so far the only) time I have seen someone actually suffer from a seizure. But that incident, which I find frightening, was enough reason for me to resolve that I should have some knowledge about that particular condition and how to handle such a case the moment it occurs. I do not want to be just standing on the side doing nothing when a similar occurrence happens again, especially if the victim is someone I know.

On the third weekend after that incident, my wife and I had the chance to visit my brother-in-law in Vacaville, California where he and his family had been staying for close to twelve years now. Getting down at once to the very purpose of our visit, I asked my brother-in-law about what exactly transpired during that basketball-game incident. It was, according to him, a case of a tonic-clonic seizure (others refer to this as a grand mal seizure; grand mal being the French term for "great ailment").

My brother-in-law, who has had numerous trainings on handling various emergency cases, went on to explain that there are different types of seizures, each type having its own specific sets of symptoms. Each set of symptoms, in turn, is directly related to the part of the brain that is overloaded with nerve signals and to the functions (such as hearing, speech, vision, memory, awareness, or muscle movements) which that part of the brain controls.

In a tonic-clonic seizure, all of the nerve circuits of the brain become overloaded at the same time. In general when this happens, the victim can have convulsions and lose consciousness. To put it in a way that can be better understood, it means that the muscles all over the body have spasms as a result of the extra brain activity. This is what causes a generalized and often terrifying-looking convulsion, exactly the same scene in that basketball court that made me practically motionless and speechless as I watched from the sideline.

All seizures, whatever the type, are usually temporary. After a tonic-clonic seizure, the victim will feel disconcerted and sleepy for a while. During an attack, the job of those around the victim is to take care of him, ensuring that he does not come to grief or do anything to harm himself. Since the convulsions that accompany a tonic-clonic seizure may cause the victim to move or stir about violently and hit nearby objects, chairs, tables, and other such hard or sharp objects should be moved out of the way. The victim's head must be protected from banging against the floor by placing something soft and flat, such as a folded sweatshirt, under it.

One of the most important things you have to keep in mind when attending to a seizure victim is that you should not try to restrict his movements. Remember that his jerking motions and muscle spasms are automatic, since these are controlled by brain activity. Hence, you cannot stop them. Attempting to stop them may only cause harm or injury to the seizure victim.

During a seizure, breathing is naturally weak and may even stop for a moment. Turn the victim gently on his side to keep the airway free from any impediment. Any tight fitting garment around the neck must be loosened. The idea that someone having a seizure can swallow his tongue is simply not true; do not insert any object (like your finger or a spoon) in his mouth in your attempt to prevent this false notion from happening - doing so can injure his teeth or jaw. In case the person is not breathing after a seizure (which is an uncommon event), check to see if the airway is clear; and then give artificial respiration if you can or are trained to do so.

For the most part, stay calm and see that others around you and the victim do likewise. Once the seizure stops, ease the victim's trouble; make sure he has a place to rest until fully recovered, or is able to get home.

In the event the seizure goes on, or if another attack sets in shortly afterwards, call an ambulance. A tonic-clonic seizure, or any type of seizure for that matter, that does not end in a few minutes should be deemed a medical emergency; the victim must be taken to a hospital immediately in such a case. [Read the Original Article]