my 8 month old son had one, they are the most scary thing to see your child like that, i put a damp cloth on him to get temp down while waiting for abulance the abulance ppl did the same thing put damp not wet cloths on him and watched him, two days later he came out with a rash so back up to the hospital we went, always take your child to hospital or the doctor to get straight into the hospital always take an abulance last thing you want is to be in a waiting room with a sick child no matter what, if you go by abulance you are seen right away and the nurses check on you and monitor straight away,

then my son got his top tooth which explained everything, a virus and teething and with 40 deg heat no wonder he was having such a hard time of it, because I live in semi arid desert we used a damp cloth to keep him cool i was told to be careful becuase with such high temps you can give the child pnemonia if you cool them down to fast and that is why you don't put the children in baths and the drowning factor if they have a fit while in water.

Hi there! 

First of all I would like to say congratulations for posting information on a subject that all parents should be well informed on. Seizures can be a terrifying thing to witness or be involved in and the more information we have regarding a seizure the better we are at reacting to them. Having worked for the South Australian Ambulance service for over 2 years now, I couldnt help but feel that some of the information you received on the fact sheet was incorrect and i have addressed those details below. Have a read through and see what you think.

First of all - a seizure can be caused by simply being febrile. The body's temperature control is still immature when the child is young and this is a reaction to this. Because of this when a child is seizing, you are correct in saying they should be placed in a safe place but never keep the child on your lap. By doing this you are continuing to transfer your body heat to the child which in turn does not allow them to cool down and the seizure can continue.

Second - ALWAYS CALL AN AMBULANCE.  I say this for several reason. It is mainly advised that an ambulance is not required if the patient is known to have epilepsy and the seizure is under five minutes. this is only relevant if the patient is found Post Ictal (after the seizure) and the person with them is very confident they have the required first aid  or experience to monitor that patient. Should the patient be found actively seizing, then you have no way of predicting how long it is going to last for. 5 minutes is way too long to leave a child in a seizure. The reason that the child's face may turn blue / red is because they stop breathing through a seizure. If it is continuous for the five minutes, that is a long time to starve the brain of oxygen.

2. Because it takes an extreme amount of energy for the body to have a seizure, once it has finished, the child is more than sleeping they are in an unconscious state. Whilst in this state their airway is compromised and they are unable to maintain or look after that airway. Think about when you are asleep and you start to feel nauseas, that feeling wakes you up immediately. With a seizure patient, they are unable to wake up to sensations like that,  so if they vomit whilst asleep they compromise their airway. Because a lot of patients bite

 their tongues whilst in the seizure, that bleeding will run down their airway. Even a first aid trained carer, who may think to scoop out anything residing in the mouth possibly wont get everything. If that then moves to the airway, again it is compromised.

Important first aid that should also be considered:

1:Remove all clothing down to a nappy or pants to allow the skin to cool naturally

2: Do not cool the child by artificial means such as fanning or a cold bath as this can cause further complications later

3. Do not give the patient anything to eat or drink - under any circumstances until medical attention has been sought. The patient has no control over their airway and therefore the swallowing action can not be performed properly, this can cause a partial or complete obstruction.

4. After the seizure has completed and you have placed the patient in the recovery position, attended to any injuries that may have occured and do not leave the patient alone, monitor their vital signs until ambulance arrival incase the seizure starts again or further complications arise.

Of course if the seizure lasts 60 secs, or is like a micro seizure, and the child regains full consciousness, then by all means take them in the car, if you have someone who can monitor them and someone to drive. Check in your home country, but I know here in south australia, that if you have called an ambulance and then call to cancel, there is no charge, so if you feel you want to drive to the hospital, then you can always cancel the ambulance, that is your personal choice.

You have written a lot of valuable information here and informing people to remain calm is of the utmost importance. I am unsure of where exactly you got the fact sheet from, and you may still choose to place your complete trust in the hospital who gave it to you and stick to the advise they have provided. But I can only say one final thing, if you are watching your infant /toddler convulse in the midst of a seizure, whilst turning blue in the face from lack of oxygen, do you feel confident to sit there and wait five minutes and hope that once it has finished, the child will simply sleep it off and wake as normal.  Even working in my profession, I would still call for medical assistance immediately. I hope this has been of some assistance.

Kindest regards…Lokki_78

Many people have mistaken febral convulsions for epilepsy and vice versa.  At first sight they look pretty much the same, and the first aid for both conditions is the same - though the causes are different.  Febral convulsions and epilepsy are the only things that can cause seizures either.

I suddenly and unexpectedly started suffering from periods of unconsciousness and seizures for just over a year, and after much investigation and trialling medications, it was discovered that what was first diagnosed as epilepsy, was in fact all the result of extreme stress and sleep deprivation. 

Two other causes of seizures are drug over dose and poisoning.

The first aid treatment is the same and there is no need to panic.

Excellent advice, well done.