Seizure Smart Schools

Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia

What is epilepsy?

• Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurring seizures

• seizures are a brief, temporary disturbance in the electrical activity in the brain

• it is not contagious in any way

• a child with epilepsy typically gets good seizure control with the use of medication

Epilepsy by the numbers

• 1 in every 100 people in the general population

• 1 in every 50 people under the age of 18

• 1 in every 3 people who have a developmental disability

• 10% of the population will have at least one seizure during their lifetime

• 3 million people in the USA have epilepsy

Types of Seizures

• There are more than 30 types of seizures• Seizures are either

Generalized:affect the whole brain and cause a loss of consciousness orPartial:affect only part of the brain and may or may not affect consciousness

Absence / Petit Mal Seizures

• Absence seizures are the most common type of seizure in pre-school, primary and elementary age students

• characterized by brief stare, glazed look on the face, may appear to be day dreaming, unaware of their surroundings

• lasts just a matter of seconds, but may occur hundreds of times a day if left untreated

• student is unable to process any information during the time the seizure lasts, resulting in academic difficulty

First Aid for Absence Seizures

• Does not require medical first aid

• Protocol

Observe- note how frequently these disconnects occur,length of time

Document – write down, keep count of occurrences

Report – make a school counselor/school nurse aware of the situation

These types of seizures are very well controlled by meds !

Accommodations for Absence Seizures

• send home lesson notes so parents can review material child may have missed during seizure

• allow additional time to complete time - regulated tests (as allowed)

• may require tutoring or summer school to keep pace

Partial Seizures

• Simple partial seizures result in an impairment related to the part of the brain affected by the seizure (i.e. memory, motor function, emotions, etc)

• Complex partial seizures result in a lack of awareness of surroundings, but person maintains their mobility.

First Aid: Complex Partial

• guard the child from harm; steer them gently away from dangerous areas such as stairways, outside doors of buildings or areas where they may encounter hard or sharp objects

• allow the child “walk out” the seizure (typically 2-4 minutes)

• DO NOT tightly physically restrict child’s movements as they may resist, resulting in injury

• Accommodation: send lesson plan home with child so parent can review material with them

Tonic-Clonic Seizures

• formerly called grand mal• most systemic form of seizure• typically lasts 2-4 minutes, but can last much

longer• symptoms include convulsions, loss of bladder

control, shallow breathing, grinding motion to the teeth, loss of awareness

First Aid: Tonic Clonic

• protect from harm by moving away any objects the student may strike during convulsive activity

• protect their head from hitting any hard surfaces; use soft materials as a barrier or cradle gently; do not hold head rigidly

• turn the person on their side to allow fluids to escape their mouth and keep their tongue from blocking airway

• time the seizure

• DO NOT put anything a person’s mouth when they are having a seizure… do not give any fluids for 45 minutes after a seizure ends

Seizure Emergencies

911 should be called in the event of any of the following situations:• First time seizure• Seizures lasting more than 4 minutes• Seizures occur in clusters• Student is pregnant or has diabetes• Student is injured• When defined as a seizure emergency in the Seizure

Action Plan/IEP/ 504 plan

Seizure Action Plan

• One page quick reference plan put together by school, student’s physician and parents

• Provides quick access to important information(phone contacts, meds, doctor’s phone #, what constitutes a seizure emergency

• Describes what that individual child’s seizures look like• Should be developed in conjunction with the child’s

IEP/504/SST

Resources

• Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia www.epilepsyga.org (800) 527-7105• Epilepsy Classroom www.epilepsyclassroom.org• Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta www.choa.org • www.epilepsy.com• Centers for Disease Control (CDC) www.cdc.gov/epilepsy