Maggie and Jaggy are back in this blog to discuss a first aid scenario for an often-misunderstood emergency known as an Epileptic Fit attack. They will not only tell the readers the correct first aid but debunk certain myths too. So, over to Maggie and Jaggy.
Maggie: “Hello Jaggy, how are you?”
Jaggy: “Excited to be alive Maggie!”
Maggie: “Excited to be alive? A new one from you.”
Jaggy: “Nothing new Maggie. I believe that Life is for Living.”
Maggie: “Saving it too if need be right!”
Jaggy: “Absolutely.”
Maggie: “Recently when I was going on the road, a young boy about 20 had an epileptic fit attack and people were standing around not knowing what to do. Can you tell me the correct first aid for an epileptic fit?”
Jaggy: “Sure. An Epileptic Seizure as it is called in medical terms, occurs to many people. It is usually more evident in Children and Young people though elderly persons too can experience seizures. It is commonly called an Epileptic Fit.”
Maggie: “Oh, I see!”
Jaggy: “It is basically a disorder of the nervous system which results in increased electrical impulses in the brain and because of which the body of the person trembles violently. These attacks usually do not last for a long time.”
Maggie: “What is the first aid if one sees someone having an Epileptic attack?”
Jaggy: “First and foremost, do not touch the victim when he is trembling. They are difficult to handle during the seizure. Wait for the convulsions to stop.”
Maggie: “What next?”
Jaggy: “Once the trembling stops, the victim usually falls. The first aider must ease the fall and make the victim lie down on a flat surface.”
Maggie: “You are telling me that one needs to wait till the intensity subsides.”
Jaggy: “Exactly. Once the victim has been made to lie down, check the response of the victim. If the victim is not responding call the ambulance and check breathing. If the victim is breathing, you place him in Recovery Position.”
Maggie: “Recovery Position? What is that?”
Jaggy: “It is quite simple. All you need to do is make the person lie down on one side, either the left or the right. The left side is better than the right as the heart lies in the centre and slightly tilted to the left to prevent a medical term called Aspiration.”
Maggie: “Can we give him water or liquids to drink?”
Jaggy: “Absolutely not. You never give water or liquids to a person who is not responding. The water will enter the lungs of the victim and can be fatal.”
Maggie: “Okay I understand. But I have seen people give iron rods or keys for such incidents from where I hail.”
Jaggy: “Yes, I know that. All that is a myth. It is neither scientific nor medically correct. In some places, they even make the victim smell leather shoes or onions. Medically, Recovery position is the correct first aid.”
Maggie: “Often I have seen froth coming out of the mouth. Is it dangerous?”
Jaggy: “It is not froth but saliva that comes out and it is harmless. There are occasions where victims bite their tongue too but that’s not so serious. Trained paramedics use a Hook shaped like the alphabet J to prevent a victim from biting their tongue.”
Maggie: “Do we do CPR for an Epileptic attack?”
Jaggy: “No. Usually the victim is not responsive but breathing. Only if there is no breathing, we begin CPR.”
Maggie: “Do people affected by Epilepsy wear any identification so that one can easily help during and attack and can also inform the Emergency services of the problem.”
Jaggy: “Thanks for asking the question. They usually wear a medical bracelet or band which informs others that they have a medical problem. Not only epilepsy but certain diabetics too wear them.”
Maggie: “Thanks, Jaggy for the clear explanation.”
Jaggy: “Always a pleasure to share Lifesaving knowledge Maggie.”
Jaggy and Maggie will be having more conversations on various aspects of First aid. Till then Stay Safe, Be Safe. Keep the comments and suggestions flowing.
Seshadri Varadarajan.
Very much Informative. Many Takeways…
List some of them below…
Take aways
1) no liquid should be given as it is fatal and can enter lungs
2) giving iron is myth
3) we should not touch until the victim s movement reduces….
God Bless Seshadri sir…
Thank you so much Suresh Murugan. It was your support that I started writing. You gave me the push
Nice one buddy , rescuing position – left lateral position is more safer and less chance for aspiration
Thank you Dr. Noted your point. Shall use the same in my training classes too
Very informative
Thank you Amrit ji
Great informative blog Shesha! Happy to see your passion to share these and help save lives. Wishing you the best.
Thank you Venki brother. You have been extremely supportive
Sheshadri Very informative .
Thank you sir
Thankyou sir, for sharing
Thank you Bhuvaneshwar Reddy
More valuable information
Thank you Ambika Madam
Superbly presented God bless you to come up with more such useful information in the coming days ,which will go a long way in saving precious lives , keep up the good work sir
Thanks Palani sir
Good one from Maggie and Jaggy. Talking about it and creating awareness on handling such incidents will make it easy for susceptible people to trust to be taken care of. Thank you!
Thank you Smrithi…..
I reached out to the author about how to identify someone prone to epilepsy. The blog was immediately updated with details. Seshadri is open to feedback and is strongly committed to educating others. It is rare to find someone so dedicated to save lives and help others. I highly appreciate it.
Thank you so much for the feedback. Every author has to be open to feedback so that it may become his or her feed forward. Readers always know better than authors as they are the ones who read each and every word implicitly. Glad that i could make the changes immediately.
Very practical tips !!!
Thank you Author Venkat
Super 👌
Thanks Varun Ji
Excellent Explanation.Thank you sesha🙏
Thank you Gunavathi. Trust you and your family are all safe
It’s great sir,continous your efforts to knowledge people through different platforms,god created you only for the purpose to serve society by right means
Good info
Thanks Dr. Ravi
Oh I always thought key was the solution but never knew how.
Thanks to you now everything is clear now.
Good job keep enlightening us.
Thank you Ameen. Many do not know. In a country like ours every state has different methods
Dear Readers,
Thank you all so much for reading this blog thoroughly. Some of you have given Corrections, Suggestions which I have incorporated. All this inspires me to write better. Please keep the comments and Suggestions flowing. Loving you all so much.
Seshadri Varadarajan
Very informative and excellent article. Thank you Sir
Thanks Abirami
Sesha, Maggie and Jaggy rocked and also you have opened up lesser known things about Epileptic Fits. Life saving and rarely known facts which are really life saving and precious. Not giving water myth is really a fantastic knowledge. This is because what people commonly do when they see an epileptic person is that they try giving water without knowing that water may get choked up in the lungs and inhibit breathing and become a fatality. Very precious life saving tips on epilepsy Sesha, keep up the good work!
Thank you Mahesh. You have summed it up superbly
Hi sir super your information very useful this everyone knowledge
Thank you Rajesh. Take care of yourself
Good one Sesha! So many myths on epileptic attacks propagated by films. Glad You took the time to explain.
Thanks so much. Just wanted to debunk the myths.
Thank you for sharing useful information wirh solution.
Thank you so much Kalpesh ji