When your child has a seizure

I thought I should share what to do when a child gets a seizure.

I knew enough to handle the situation when it happened to Bubbles, although actually experiencing it was almost scary enough for me to forget all that I read. I am so thankful Roboman was there with me when it happened.

The most common type of seizure that occurs are febrile seizures, which are convulsions triggered by high fever. Do read this site for a full description.

Bringing down your child's fever as quickly as possible will shorten the seizure.

Although Bubbles' episode was not due to fever, we did the same things as one would do in a febrile seizure:
(Adapted from NUH Kids Pamphlet on Febrile Seizures)

1. Don't try to restrain your child or stop the seizure movements. The seizure needs to run its course.

2. If your child has anything visible in his mouth, clear it with a finger to prevent choking. Don't try to force anything into your child's mouth.

3. Place your child on his side to help drain secretions and to prevent choking.

4. If your child vomits, help clear his mouth.

5. Call for an ambulance if the convulsion continues for more than 10 minutes.

For us, we chose to call for an ambulance immediately because we were so worried and needed to do so for our peace of mind. We didn't even wait 10 minutes. We also knew that an ambulance would have all the equipment and medication neccessary should things take a turn for the worse. As it turns out, Bubbles was given oxygen during the ride to the hospital.

It is also recommended that a child be brought for a doctor's evaluation after each seizure, just to rule out any sinister issues, and for an evaluation of the cause of the seizures to be done.

I'm glad I knew most of the information above before having the experience we did. I hope this helps serves as another important piece of data to be stored in everyone's minds, hopefully never needing to be used but when it does, to be helpful!