Other Health Impairments

Epilepsy

Table of Seizure Types

(Return to Epilepsy General Information page)

Table of Seizure Types
Generalised seizures
Type of seizure / What might happen / First Aid
Tonic-clonic
(The most common sort of generalised seizure – used to be known as ‘Grand Mal'). / The person loses consciousness, the body stiffens, and then they fall to the ground. This is followed by jerking movements. A blue tinge around the mouth is likely. This is due to irregular breathing. Loss of bladder and/or bowel control may occur. After a minute or two the jerking movements should stop and consciousness should slowly return.
The person will not remember anything about the seizure when they come round and they will need time to recover. Recovery time varies from minutes for some people to hours for others. / Do…
·  Protect the person from injury - (remove harmful objects from nearby).
·  Cushion their head.
·  Look for an epilepsy identity card or identity jewellery.
·  Aid breathing by gently placing the person in the recovery position once the seizure has finished.
·  Stay with them until recovery is complete.
·  Be calmly reassuring.

Do not…

·  Restrain the person.
·  Put anything in their mouth.
·  Try to move them unless they are in danger.
·  Give the person anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered.
·  Attempt to bring them round.
Call an ambulance if…
·  You know it is the person's first seizure.
·  The seizure continues for more than five minutes.
·  One tonic-clonic seizure follows another without the person regaining consciousness between seizures.
·  The person is injured during the seizure.
·  You believe the person needs urgent medical attention.
Absence
(used to be called ‘Petit Mal'). / The person may appear to be daydreaming or switching off. They are momentarily unconscious and totally unaware of what is happening around them.
This type of seizure is more common in children and teenagers. /

Do…

·  Tell the person what happened while their seizure was happening (particularly important for children during lessons).

Do not…

·  Try to wake the person up.
Atonic
(also called akinetic seizures or drop attacks). / Sudden loss of muscle control causes the person to fall to the ground. Recovery is quick. / Atonic seizures can cause injury - an increased awareness of safety is vital if this type of seizure occurs regularly.
In some instances protective headgear may be appropriate.
Myoclonic
(jerks). / Brief forceful jerks which can affect the whole body or just part of it. The jerking could be severe enough to make the person fall.
Although the seizures are brief, they can be extremely frustrating, resulting as they often do in spilt drinks or similar accidents. / There is no specific first aid that may be required, other than to be reassuring.
Partial seizures
Type of seizure / What might happen / First Aid
Simple partial / Epileptic activity occurs in just part of the brain. The symptoms depend on the area of the brain affected and the person remains fully conscious.
Symptoms may include any of the following:
twitching; numbness; sweating; dizziness; nausea; disturbances to hearing, vision, smell or taste; strong sense of déjà vu.
Symptoms are often not obvious to onlookers.
These seizures can progress to other types of seizure and can therefore act as a warning or ‘aura'. /

Do…

·  Stay with the person and be reassuring until the symptoms go away.
Do not…
·  Try to restrain the person.
Complex partial / Epileptic activity occurs in just part of the brain. The symptoms depend on the area of the brain affected.
It may appear to onlookers that the person is fully aware of what they are doing. However, this is not the case.
Symptoms may include any of the following: plucking at clothes; smacking lips; swallowing repeatedly or wandering around. / Do…
·  Guide the person from danger.
·  Look for epilepsy identity card/identity jewellery.
·  Stay with the person until recovery is complete.
·  Be calmly reassuring.
·  Explain anything that they may have missed.

Do not…

·  Restrain the person.
·  Act in a way that could frighten the person such as making abrupt movements or shouting at them.
·  Assume the person is aware of what is happening, or what has happened.
·  Give the person anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered.
·  Attempt to bring them round.
Call an ambulance if…
·  You know it is the person's first seizure.
·  The seizure continues for more than five minutes.
·  One tonic-clonic seizure follows another without the person regaining consciousness between seizures.
·  The person is injured during the seizure.
·  You believe the person needs urgent medical attention.

Retrieved on June 22, 2005 from:

http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/chart.html