Ency. home > Injury > C > Convulsion - first aid

Convulsion - first aid   

Overview | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention

Alternative names:

Seizure - first aid

Definition:

A seizure may be mild and cause minimal symptoms or may be severe and cause loss of consciousness and a sudden, violent contraction and relaxation of the muscles caused by spontaneous electrical activity in the brain.

Considerations

Most seizures last from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. However, if a seizure is prolonged, or if multiple seizures happen in seccession with no recovery of consciousness in between, this is called status epilepticus and is a medical emergency.

When seizures recur, and there are no underlying causes that can be identified, a person is said to have epilepsy. Epilepsy can usually be controlled well with medication.

It is not possible to stop a  convulsion once it has started. All that can be done is to help protect the victim from injury and get medical help as needed. Observing the quality and duration of the seizure is useful information for medical professionals.

It is important to pay attention to which limb(s) is involved , in what order, is there any alteration in consciousness, is there loss of urine, or do the eyes or head deviate in any direction.

Causes

• Epilepsy
• Alcohol use
• Barbiturates, intoxication or withdrawal
• Brain illness or injury
• Brain tumor (rare)
• Choking
• Drug abuse
• Electric shock
• Fever (particularly in young children)
• Head injury
• Heart disease
• Heat illness (see heat intolerance)
• High blood pressure
• Meningitis
• Poisoning
• Stroke
• Toxemia of pregnancy
• Uremia related to kidney failure
• Venomous bites and stings (see snake bite)
• Withdrawal from benzodiazepines (such as Valium)
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

Ency. home > Injury > C > Convulsion - first aid

---

[an error occurred while processing this directive]