candystrippers:

So this is just a public service announcement with a story

Last night I was at my hometown gaming store playing (and losing) a Mordheim skirmish when a young man playing Magic: The Gathering had a seizure. The store went into a panic and his friends were particularly distraught, so I went over to make sure things were alright.

They called 911, which in this particular case was a good thing. The young man is a brand new epilepsy patient who has yet to figure out his medication. But if an established epileptic is having a seizure you do not need to call 911 unless they injure their head or neck, or if the seizure lasts longer than 2 minutes.

The major problem was that one friend panicked so much that he wanted to try CPR. I explained that you should not be doing CPR on an epileptic, you could kill them.

Then, being distressed by the sounds of his labored, but normal breathing, his friend attempted to hold his friend’s mouth open. I smacked his hand away and explained that not only will you get bit that way, you could end up helping him break his jaw or choke.

Let epileptics ride their seizure out. Time it, and make sure the area is clear of all objects they could injure themselves on, but do not try to restrict their bodies and for God’s sake do not do cpr.