What should a teacher do if a student has a seizure in the classroom?

Answer 1

We're talking ideopathic seizures (the "I don't know why it happened" variety), or at least siezures that are not the result of serious trauma, ultra-high fever, etc. -- e.g. stuff that would keep them out of school. Get someone(s) (I prefer two runners) running for help -- not the nurse -- EMTs. Tell them "Call 911 and say there's a seizure -- I'll leave you to work out these retails. If the student is breathing (and if they're moving they almost certainly are), do not restrain them unless they're about to get hurt (e.g. roll them away from a hot room heater, don't let them roll into traffic). Protect the patient as well as you can. possibly moving obstacles or placing padding. Most seizures play themselves out, with no major after effects. Once the patient is post-dictal, unless them parent knows exactly why this happened and what to do (i.e. chronic epilepsy for instance), you'll need to get this evaluatedin order to find out what happened. Your student records and contact forms may have this information but if they don't or it's hard to find, let the EMT make the call. Seaizures are dramatic and scary but overall, most are not dangerous. Here's a list of don'ts: * DON'T put your fingers in their mouth. Did I mention they're seizing? No sense in getting a nasty hand wound. * DON'T put wallets or sticks in their mouth. Metal items trash the victim's teeth. and with any item, you're forcing something into the airway of a non-responsive person? Think about that a minute. Nothing in the mouth -- don't obstruct the airway. * Don't hold them down unless the environment makes it completely necessary. Instead you can gently grasp limbs and such in order to lessen how hard they hit something, but this comes with a risk if they wallop you one -- a bad thing (NO INJURED RESCUERS! :} ). * Don't try to "fix" this -- you can't. Just help the victim ride it out. * Don't start CPR unless there's no pulse and no breathing. Getting a pulse on a dictal, grand mal patient is like threading a needle on a roller coaster, so unless you KNOW they aren't breathing (which means they've stopped moving or will in a second), don't make matters worse by interefering with their breathing and cardiac rythems. * Do not worry about them "swallowing their tongue". I've never seen it happen (and I don't believe it does in the real world), and if it did I'd pull it out once they were post-dictal (after the seizure). * Do not try to get the patient's attention, "slap some sense into them", or render them unconscious (yeah -- I know you know that but you'd be surprised -- it happens). When it subsides, look for injuries, and treat accordingly. Monitor pulse and breathing (which will likely be fine, winding down to a relaxed resting or sleep state). Don't be surprised if they don't recall the episode or if they fall asleep. Don't force the issue or ask a ton of questions unless they remember and want to talk. Instill calmness. Once stable, hand this over to someone who knows what happened and why, and hopefully how to treat it. Later, have a chat with the parents so you know what to expect if there's a next time. Different things set seizures off, and you and the school nurse should know the student's profile at least to the point where you can respond properly.