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What to Do If Your Child
Has a Seizure
Prompt Medical Treatment Is Important, but First,
Stay Calm
 By Candace
Hoffmann
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Dr. Jacqueline Brooks
Few things make a mother or father feel more helpless
than watching a child have a seizure, an experience
that is often more traumatic to the parent than
to the child.
Prompt medical attention is important, and there
are steps parents can take to help, but often the
most important thing they can do is to remain calm,
doctors say. Most seizures are not serious, and
most children who have one seizure will never have
another. While some 10% of all children will have
a single seizure during their lifetimes, only 1%
to 2% of the total population have recurrent seizures.
Epilepsy, which brings recurrent seizures, has
many causes and is not a single disease. On the
other hand, when a child has a single seizure, there's
often an underlying reason that is easily addressed.
High fever is a common and readily detectable cause,
and seizures can also be brought on by infection,
low blood sugar, or drug withdrawal.
Experts say it's important to treat a child's first
seizure promptly and to have a doctor do a thorough
evaluation so that the cause can be found and, if
needed, measures taken to prevent future seizures.
In their new recommendations for treating children
who have a first seizure that is not caused by a
fever, the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the
American Academy of Neurology, along with the Child
Neurology Society and American Epilepsy Society,
call for routine screening with electroencephalogram
(EEG), an electrical tracing of the brain waves.
The EEG is important to help doctors evaluate what
caused the seizure and what future steps to take,
they say in a report in the journal Neurology.
"Ultimately, the EEG helps us [determine]
if there is a risk for future seizures, and, if
so, what type of epilepsy it may be if the patient
has further seizures," says Greg Sharp, MD,
chief of pediatric neurology at Arkansas Children's
Hospital in Little Rock, who commented on the new
recommendations for WebMD.
An EEG involves placing electrodes, which measure
electrical activity, on the child's head. The procedure
causes no discomfort, but it is not a perfect test.
This is where the patient's history comes in, and
both the Quality Standards Subcommittee (QSS) and
Sharp emphasize its importance.
If there is a history of seizures in the family,
they say, your child's doctor needs to know. But
other things you may not think of could also be
important. Has your child been sick recently, or
been around other sick children in the family, day-care
center, neighborhood, or school? Are there any medicines
or poisons the child may have gotten into? Above
all, parents should fully explain the events surrounding
the seizure to help the doctor make an accurate
diagnosis.
Other diagnostic tools may also be used, depending
on what the physician discovers or believes is most
appropriate to treat the child, the QSS reports.
Sometimes, a spinal tap, in which fluid is drawn
from the spine, may be required to rule out infections.
Blood tests may be ordered to make sure the child
isn't diabetic. If necessary, a brain scan, usually
using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), may be done
to rule out any brain abnormalities. The main thing
to remember, experts say, is that while a seizure
is frightening and traumatic, more than likely it
will be a one-time occurrence in your child's life.
Sharp outlines some steps you should take if your
child has a seizure: Get the child away from anything
that could cause harm -- out of the tub, away from
stoves or heaters, away from tables and shelves
where items may fall off and cause an injury. Roll
the child on his or her side, as a seizure victim
may vomit and could choke if lying on his or her
back. If you can, tilt the child's chin forward,
CPR-style, to help open the breathing passage. Do
not put anything in the child's mouth. A tongue
cannot be swallowed; this is a myth. If you put
your hand in the child's mouth, you may end up being
bitten, because a seizure victim will often clamp
down uncontrollably. A spoon or other object thrust
into the child's mouth will not help breathing,
but may result in injury to the mouth and teeth.
"Once the convulsive component [of the seizure]
is over and the child then is sleepy, groggy, or
not very responsive, the emergency component is
essentially over," Sharp tells WebMD. The child
should be taken calmly, at normal driving speed,
to the emergency room for evaluation and care. There
is one circumstance under which to call 911, Sharp
warns. A seizure that is still continuing after
five minutes is an emergency, and calls for prompt
medical attention.
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