How to Treat a Victim Having a Seizure

Chip Meyers: Hi, I am Chip Meyers, a paramedic with the City of Alexandria Fire Department in Alexandria, Virginia. Next, we are going to talk about what to do if you witness somebody having a seizure. A seizure is a disorganized electrical impulse being sent from the brain, that basically render the person unconscious but you will notice jerking motions. Seizure can come about from many different problems. It could be that they are an epileptic, a diabetic; they might be suffering from shock or even fever. Here we have Josh who is on the ground, he is having a seizure. First thing we do is move things out of the way that might injure him and then we place something underneath his head to keep him from injuring his head. A person having a seizure also have the jerking motions, they might also bite their tongue, they might wet themselves, one thing is that the person having a seizure though, does not usually know what is going on. When they wake up, they are usually disoriented. So, you want to make sure you stay with them and prevent them from any further harm such as walking out in the traffic. If the person who is suffering a seizure starts to vomit, you want to roll them on their side again, to help protect their air way. A seizure can be a horrifying experience to witness. Just remember that the person experiencing the seizure does not usually know or is not usually aware of what happened to them. So, what you need to do is you need to stay with them and monitor them and make sure that somebody calls 911 or the local emergency number. I would like to thank you for watching the video and I hope that if you get to use some of these skills someday you will get to save somebody's life. Thank you very much.