Epilepsy - First Aid Treatment
Epilepsy is currently defined as a tendency to have recurrent seizures (sometime called fits). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in the brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between the brain cells. This disruption results in the brain's messages becoming halted or mixed up.
The brain is responsible for all the functions of your body, so what you experience during a seizure will depend on where in your brain the epileptic activity begins and how widely and rapidly it spreads. For this reason, there are many different types of seizure and each person will experience epilepsy in a way that is unique to them.
There are around 40 different types of seizure and a person may have more than one type Epilepsy can affect anyone, at any age and from any walk of life. 456,000 or one in every 131 people in the UK has epilepsy / Epilepsy is a neurological condition Only 52 per cent of people with epilepsy in the UK are seizure free.
What to do
Protect the person from injury (remove harmful objects) Cushion their head Look for an epilepsy identity car or identity jewellery Aid breathing by gently placing them in the recovery position once the seizure has finished Be calmly reassuring Stay with the person until recovery is complete.
What not to do
Restrain the person Put anything in the person's mouth. Try to move the person unless they are in danger Give the person anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered, attempt to bring them round
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