Episode 8: Epilepsy and Seizures

Introduction to First Aid Unboxed Episode 8

Mark: Hello, and welcome to Episode 8 of First Aid Unboxed with Louise Madeley from Madeleys First Aid Plus. I'm purely the facilitator, Mark Wakeley, who just asks the questions, but Louise is the one with all the knowledge. So, hello Louise, how are you?
Louise: I'm very well, thanks Mark.
Mark: Well, we haven't done an episode for a little while, so we've got lots to talk to you about. And if you've not listened to First Aid Unboxed before, what we do is we talk to you about everyday First Aid. Louise is trying to demystify the world of First Aid, because we all will need it at some point in our lives.
Louise: And if you do, the idea of these podcasts is to help you to know what to do in certain situations. That's what we're doing. We've got other plans for future episodes as well.
Mark: So we'll tell you a little bit about that at the end of this episode. But this week, we're talking about...

Epilepsy and Seizures

Louise: Epilepsy and seizures.
Mark: Okay, is this a common thing? Does this happen a lot with people?
Louise: Yes, it does. Yeah, there are a lot of people out there that suffer seizures or have epilepsy. Just because you have a seizure doesn't mean necessarily that you are epileptic or that you have epilepsy. The easiest way to think of it is a seizure is just a short change in normal brain activity. So it's an electrical burst of activity in your brain that is chaos. So it's not that it's functioning normally and the brain processes are going as they're supposed to. Everything goes into chaos. Obviously, there are two different types of epilepsy, but we'll talk about that in a sec.
Mark: And is it something that is, with a lot of people, is undiagnosed and they don't realize that they have this until it happens, if you know what I mean?
Louise: Sometimes. Actually, we all have a seizure at some point. Everybody. You've had a seizure. I've had a seizure. We've all had them.
Mark: Okay. I'll leave that one hanging.
Louise: Tell me a little bit about that later. Right, okay. So what do we need to look out for first? What's the first thing we need to know about this?
Mark: Okay. Well, break it down. There are two different types that you need to know about. Obviously, in the world of medicine, there are a lot more than that, but you don't need to know that. This isn't about teaching people how to be doctors, nurses, etc. This is basic first aid. So all you need to know are the two general different types. One, we used to call it grand mal years ago, and the other one is petit mal. We've changed the name, understandably, because it makes a lot more sense.

Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Louise: You've got tonic-clonic, firstly. So this is a generalized seizure. The whole of the brain is affected by it. These are the ones that first you go, it's called hypertonic, when you suddenly go rigid and stiffen. So your entire body goes into a board. Then you fall to the floor and start shaking. And that convulsion is clonic. So tonic-clonic, first you stiffen, collapse to the floor, then start shaking. That's the one that people generally think about when they hear about seizures and epilepsy. Understandably, because those are the ones that you can't mistake. They are very catastrophic to see. They look very barbaric, to be fair. And obviously, there are risks when somebody has one of these seizures. So that's a generalized tonic-clonic seizure.

Partial Seizures

Louise: The second type is a partial seizure or focal seizure. And as the name suggests, which is why it's good that they've changed the names, tonic-clonic, you go tonic, then you go clonic. Partial seizures, it's a part of the brain that's affected. And the glory of the brain, I mean, I started my career in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. I can never say that that quickly. And worked with a lot of people who had very different types of brain problems, including epilepsy. And generally, with it being the national, because it's a national hospital, we tend to look after people who are very advanced or have tried every other treatment and nothing else works. So they've been on medication, they've been on different types of treatments, and none of those are stopping the seizures. So that's when they tend to be referred to the national unit. And it can involve, for example, surgery. You can have surgery to try and stop these seizures. You know, it can be as radical as that. They're called temporal lobectomies. And we used to deal with a lot of those. But more so when you're talking about the generalized, catastrophic fall to the floor and start convulsing. The partial seizures, actually, most of us will have had one of these at some point. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's not the whole body that's affected. It's not the whole of the brain that's affected. It's a small part of it, that the electrical activity goes into chaos, basically.

Auras in Seizures

Mark: Have you ever heard of auras? Somebody's had an aura.
Louise: Only in the context of one, Harry Potter, and two, as in people have an aura around them. But other than that, I don't know.
Mark: I've not heard of auras. These are actually a form of seizure. So it's a part of the seizure that somebody's having, usually a trigger prior to the main seizure. So before they become stiff and fall on the floor and convulse, they have an aura. And it can be anything from a sensation. It could be that they get sensations in the hands, in the feet, anywhere in the body. It could be a smell that they say cooked bacon, for example, is quite a common one that people might get. They could see something, so a purple haze suddenly appears just before they have the seizure. These are great in a way. I mean, they are tiny seizures of their own right, but they are fantastic in a way in that people are warned prior to having them. So before they have the big catastrophic one that can cause them injury, they'll get this aura first. Could be a taste, could be absolutely anything. Something based on the senses generally, just prior to having the big tonic-clonic seizure.
Mark: And will the aura lead on to a bigger seizure, or is it...
Louise: Yes. It will always be like that. Generally, they'll have this little aura closely followed by the actual seizure. So people who have generalized seizures, generally, they will put themselves on the sofa or put themselves on the floor, somewhere safe prior to having it. Because again, when it comes to the generalized seizures, the tonic-clonic, one of the biggest risks is that they're going to go down hard as well because they're not protecting themselves.

Risks and Injuries During Seizures

Louise: Our bodies and our brain are amazing, and we have what I, in my courses, I call it crumple zones. So our body has parts of the body where they can break, and very easily for a good reason because they are protecting very important organs underneath. So your collarbone, for example, these are part of your crumple zones, your forearms, your legs, lower legs. These are much easier to break, and we use them, we call it FOOSH, fall on outstretched hand, where we put our hands out prior to face planting against the pavement, for example. Somebody has a seizure, they can't do that. They've gone rigid. The worst thing you can do is be rigid. It's the same in a car accident. It's generally the people who were asleep at the time that received the least injuries. So if you know that an accident is happening and you see it just as it's about to happen, you're the driver, you will anticipate it, and you will go rigid. So you're more likely to have worse injuries than the person next to you who's fast asleep. Just because their body's relaxed, their muscles are relaxed, and when impact hits, their body is in a relaxed state at the time.
Mark: So if you're rigid, you're more likely to break things, so to speak. It's the same when somebody has a seizure. So at first, they go hypertonic, very rigid, and then they collapse down without using their protective mechanisms, putting their arms out, for example, bending their knees, anything to reduce the impact. So it tends to be a hard impact when somebody has one of these seizures. Then they start convulsing. So injuries in seizures are very common as a result.
Mark: So you've talked about seizures and the different types. How long, and this is probably a bit of a how long's a piece of string, but how long do seizures last?
Louise: As long as a piece of string.
Mark: Answered my own question there, didn't I?
Louise: I couldn't resist it. I know it doesn't make me a medical expert, but...
Mark: No, they generally, they can be anything from a few seconds. So partial seizure, an absent seizure, for example, may last two to three seconds. However, a tonic-clonic could last for two to three minutes, roughly. And these are things that we need to know about. So if you do witness somebody having a seizure, and you're the first aider, they're dealing with it, you need to know how long they've been in that seizure for. So the second you see them start to have that seizure, you need to check on your watch and see how long it is before they start to come out of it. So if you've got a smartwatch or any watch that's got a stopwatch on it, just press the button, just so that you can time how long that seizure is going to be. But I'll talk about the first aid side in a minute.

What Happens During a Seizure

Mark: OK, and you've talked a little bit about it. What is happening during the seizure? What's the, you know, what's going on?
Louise: Generally, seizures have a beginning, a middle, and an end to them. Not necessarily parts that you can distinguish whilst they're having the seizure, but within the brain, it tends to have a beginning, middle, and end. Everybody's seizures can be very different, especially when you're talking about partial. Generally, with a tonic-clonic seizure, basically the brain, all those pathways just go into total chaos. Hence, you go rigid and then you start shaking. It's more about what you do to look after somebody whilst they're having a seizure. There is no stopping them from having the seizure. That's down to their treatment, medication, et cetera. And their neurologist, it is about what do you do when they have that actual seizure. It's about safety predominantly when it comes to seizures.

First Aid for Seizures

Mark: OK. I mean, I have witnessed people having seizures, and I find it frightening because you just don't know what's happening, and it's quite a scary thing to witness. Can people die from seizures? Is it something that... I say seizures, epilepsy seizures from this medical problem?
Louise: Yeah, they certainly can. Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, it's known as. And when you're talking about SUDEP, you're not talking about injury or, I hate to say it, but drowning, for example. Partial seizures are very different, so you're still doing your daily activity. That's when a small part of the brain is affected. And the symptoms can range from anything, from absent seizures, where you're literally just for a split second totally vacant, then you're back. And I've known, there was one child at the National who had over a thousand seizures in a day. So he was just constantly, he was 10 years old, and just constantly having these little seizures. And if you put that together throughout the day, all of that day is missing for him.
Types of Partial Seizures
Louise: So it can be very catastrophic from quality of life for people who have epilepsy, particularly with the partials. Lots of different types. You could have drop epilepsy, which is generally when you see the kids who, or young adults, and they have a protective hat on, mainly because they will just suddenly, their entire body just collapses. So I'm sitting here at the moment in front of a desk, suddenly my head would hit that desk full pelt. And it's amazing when somebody is unconscious how heavy they are. So the whole of that body just goes smack. And as a result, they get lots of head injuries. So many different types. Another sort is the sort where you can start smacking lips. So it's sort of a thing going on constantly whilst having the seizure. Plucking on clothes, pulling at their hair, lots of different types. Myoclonic seizures, for example, these are ones where suddenly your muscle could just be your arm muscle, for example, will shoot out. Really frustrating. Nothing that you can do to help that person except make as little of it as possible. So just say, oh, let me pick up your cup. Oh, don't worry about that. No. Are you OK? Just, you know, it could be that they're tired. And as a result, they're having more seizures than usual. Lots of reasons why they're having them.

Triggers of Seizures

Mark: Triggering was one of my questions, actually.
Louise: Yeah.
Mark: And are there common things that trigger? Or does it just depend on the individual?
Louise: Totally depends on the individual. People tend to be most aware of photosensitive epilepsy. So somebody who has seizures and one of their triggers is lighting, for example, sudden movement of light that sets off a trigger. But not necessarily. It could be, again, it could be a smell. It could be a taste. In general, 64% of people with epilepsy don't have a cause or don't have a known cause. It's called idiopathic epilepsy, and they've no idea what causes it. So the triggers could be anything, but there's no common trigger. That's the thing with the brain. Everybody's brain is entirely different. No two brains are the same. The pathways are different based on not just neurobiology, but also experiences, life experience, et cetera, as to how they've knitted together. And as a result, if a part of that brain is firing incorrectly, then technically you could have any type of experience with epilepsy that you can imagine. The brain is such a complex organ anyway, and what could make it go wrong? And we're still not close to working it out yet.
Mark: Exactly. And what could go wrong? There are as many reasons as there are reasons you would use your brain, which are billions.
Louise: Exactly. This is why they give you the warning on the television about flashing lights and stuff, isn't it?
Mark: Which is why it's one that people tend to think about. Actually, there's very few people with photosensitive epilepsy. There's lots of other triggers out there. Tiredness being one. General daily life can be another one. Running around a lot, not eating properly, and lifestyle can trigger some people's seizures. Lots of different things. The main thing is to know what to do in the event of somebody having a seizure, really.

First Aid Steps During a Seizure

Mark: Well, that was my next question. And one of the reasons we do these podcasts is to help people in everyday life to be able to help people who are going through a situation. So, First Aid for seizures.
Louise: Yeah.
Mark: Talk to me about that.
Louise: I mean, studies do show that death in a seizure or during a seizure is very rare. SUDEP suggests that it's 1.16 of cases per thousand people die from epilepsy. So, that's not including conditions where somebody's been injured during it or somebody has walked into the river. That's the problem with partial seizures. You are doing your natural day. You're doing everything that you would normally do in that day. So, again, it's about looking after that person and keeping that person safe when they're having the seizure and recognizing what they are. Like I said, pretty much everybody has had a seizure at some point in their life. It could be that they're just getting a fasciculation, like a twitch in their arms, in their eyelids. These are actually little tiny seizures. They're little focal seizures that we're having.
Mark: That happens to me. I get little twitches in my eyes sometimes.
Louise: Absolutely. Everybody gets them. If I'm really tired, I tend to get a twitch in my arm. It's only when I'm really, really tired and then it's gone again.
Mark: Yeah, because I get that sometimes. You could see the skin moving.
Louise: Yes. That's a fasciculation.
Mark: Wow. I didn't know that. It was all part of that same thing.
Louise: Just a little twitch. You think nothing of it. You're wide awake. You haven't got epilepsy. You're just having a tiny little seizure for that moment. And of course, because the way your muscles move, and if it is a little eyelid twitch or something on your arm, it's the electrical impulses from your brain which are making those muscles do that.
Mark: Exactly.
Louise: But in a rogue kind of way.
Mark: Yes. Wow. That's what seizures are. Brain going rogue.
Louise: Yeah. It's interesting you describe it like that. So yeah, okay.

Helping Someone During a Seizure

Mark: So what do we need to do? What's the best way to help someone?
Louise: Yeah. So supposing somebody's got a generalized seizure, so they type a tonic and then they fall and then they start convulsing. Now, the most important thing is to protect them from injury. If there's any way of grabbing their head, make sure that their head doesn't hit the floor as they go down, for example, don't put yourself in danger. Again, doctor ABC is still in place. Danger, response, airway, breathing, CPR. That doesn't change, including when somebody's having a seizure. So one of the biggest problems when it comes to somebody having a seizure, of course, is that they have pauses in breathing. It's called apnea. So if somebody's having a seizure for one to two minutes, it might not sound very long. But when it comes to somebody breathing, that's actually a significant amount of time, which is why if somebody's having a seizure for more than five minutes, you are calling 999. So you don't necessarily have to call the ambulance, and 999 if somebody's having a seizure, unless there are certain stipulations.
Mark: So it's their first seizure that you know of. The best thing to do is have a look and see if they've got an epilepsy card on them if it's not somebody that you know. If they've got a card, you know it's not their first seizure, and it will usually have down what to do in the event of somebody having it.
Louise: If the seizure continues for more than five minutes, if the person's injured in any way, so they may have quite often when I've seen seizures or helped somebody with a seizure, it's that their head keeps banging against the floor. And when they're convulsing, the force that they hit the floor with is phenomenal. It's very difficult to describe unless you've seen it happen. And it could be that they've landed on concrete, something that's, you know, yeah, unfortunately out and about on the pavement, for example, their head's gone down, they may have sustained a head injury. So it's really about putting something underneath their head to protect their head if possible. I'm just working with Shrewsbury Rugby Club at the moment, doing all their first aid. And we've agreed to have, you know, like the kneeling pads that you can have, that we can just stick underneath somebody. Because again, when you're talking about rugby, we can be talking about head injuries there. It's handy to have something that you can just stick underneath their heads to protect them, not just from seizures in rugby, but lots of other things.
Mark: So using something like that, anything that's going to protect them from, while their head is banging, which it will be, protecting it from hitting the floor, basically. Something soft. If you think that there is any medical problem whatsoever going on, if it's somebody's first seizure, have they got a high temperature, for example, were they ill prior to this happening? Did they sustain a head injury? And then they've had the seizure. Any of those causes, you are phoning 999, full stop.
Louise: But supposing you've come across somebody and that you found the epilepsy card, you know that this isn't their first seizure. This is a part of their life experience. So protect them from injury, removing harmful objects that are nearby. So if they're in a classroom, for example, move the tables away, where you've got metal legs, for example, you don't want anything that's going to get in their way. What you don't do is try and stop the seizure or try and restrain them in any way. Let them have the seizure. You cannot do anything while they're convulsing, except protect them. Loosen any tight clothing that might be around the neck. So if they've got a tie on, try and get that loose and taken off. Again, look for an ID card. It may be that they've got jewelry. Ideally, not a chain, because if somebody has seizures, you don't really want them wearing chains. But they may have a bracelet that has it on, telling you where to locate the card with the information on it. Don't move them unless they're in immediate danger. So right next to a river, for example, or somewhere that potentially they could hurt themselves.
Mark: Never put anything in their mouth. If they bite their tongue, they bite their tongue. That's just what's going to happen. Do not try and restrict that at all. Don't put anything in their mouths at all. You put one of your fingers in there, it will not be there by the time they finish their seizure. Well, it will. It'll be in their tummy. So please don't do it. It is a question that I get asked nearly every time I do a first aid training. Do we do a finger sweep? Do we put something in the mouth?
Louise: No, never. They're having a seizure and clenching, which they will be. The force that they are clenching their teeth down at, they will break anything that you try and put in their mouth. And all you'll end up doing is hurting them and damaging their teeth and breaking whatever you put in there. So obviously nothing into the mouth. After the seizure is finished, if you can wait until they're nice and floppy, so to speak, they will be unresponsive. They go into something called the post-ictal phase, which is a phase where their body just goes to sleep, basically. Their breathing should return to normal. You're still timing it. So as soon as they go floppy, then you can stop the timing. You know how long the seizures lasted. You'll see that they will stop looking quite so gray and blue and start breathing normally again. Get them into the recovery position if you can. Just make them comfortable. Maintain their airway. Don't give them anything to eat or drink until they are fully recovered. They could go into a second seizure. It could become a repeated one. Stay calm and reassuring as well. People do feed off your calm. If you are calm throughout, then they will feed off that. And make a note of how long the seizures lasted. Pass that information, if necessary, on to the ambulance crew. Again, if it's more than five minutes, then ambulance is coming out anyway. They're not breathing effectively whilst having a seizure. So two to three minutes is a long time. If the person doesn't wake up or have completely normal for them behaviour afterwards, then again, you're going to be calling the ambulance. If they've had seizure in water, so imagine they've been in the bath and they've had the seizure whilst in the bath. It could be that they've inhaled some of that water. You're going to be calling 999 for that. If they're pregnant or has diabetes as well, best just to get them checked out. So again, do call 999 and they will advise you further. If they haven't got a medical ID bracelet explaining what to do, then you probably don't know whether that's their first seizure or not. In which case, if I can't blatantly find evidence that they have epilepsy, then I would be calling 999. They may not be overthrilled with you when they wake up in A&E for what for them is a perfectly normal part of their life. It's a part of who they are. But you're staying on the safe side and you're protecting them. Protect yourself, protect the person. With any seizure, that's the most important thing.

First Aid for Partial Seizures

Louise: When it comes to a focal seizure, like I said, it could be that they're carrying on with their day and suddenly they go into a seizure, they're still walking around, they might be smacking their lips, they could be pulling on their clothes. They're not aware of their surroundings. So you've got to keep them safe. Quite often in the workplace or at school, it may be that they need a buddy with them. So if they're going anywhere near water, for example, rivers, ponds, this sort of thing, sadly, we did lose two 19-year-olds actually many years ago. They were both 19. They both had different types of epilepsy, but we lost them within a week, both in a river. So they'd fallen into the river whilst having a seizure. Normally, they have risk assessments, etc. They've had epilepsy since they were small children, and they would normally have a buddy with them. We don't know exactly what happened. All that we know is that we lost two within a week because for some reason, they didn't have their buddies and they'd gone down to the river, had a seizure, and that was it. So, it's about protecting that person as much as anything.
Mark: Yeah. I mean, what I get from this is, as you say, the thing you can do is stop them hurting themselves, basically.
Louise: Absolutely.
Mark: Do what you can to, you know, cradle their head or make sure that there's nothing that they can damage themselves around.
Louise: I mean, people who have epilepsy sometimes may have something called buccal midazolam, which is a medication that if you're trained to give it, then you can give to stop the seizure. It doesn't actually stop the seizure activity. All it does is relax the muscles and brings you slowly out of the seizure. Basically, it masks it so you're not hurting yourself to the same degree. And they will have a pack on them and it'll all be in their ID bracelet, etc. That is not for a first aid to be doing at all.
Mark: That's for their carers or whomever has been trained, that could be a parent, could be a brother, sister, etc. For them to administer. It's not something that you would do in the course of first aid.
Louise: It is a brilliant drug and it does do so much good as far as people being injured during seizures. But it's not something that you would do in first aid. So if you do see it, that is just something that you need to hand over to the paramedics if you need to call them, etc. Just be aware that they've got it. And if there's anything different, so if it's somebody who you know has seizures, you've seen them have seizures before, but there's something different about this seizure, then again, that's something you need to get medical attention about.
Mark: Okay. So basically, it's keeping them safe. And if it goes on for what you feel is too long, dial 999.
Louise: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. If in doubt, you're calling 999. They will advise further. The dispatchers will be able to give you advice. And yeah, just make that call.
Mark: You've taught me quite a lot today about it and what to do and what not to do. As I said, I have witnessed this in the past, although sort of kept away because you don't know what to do. I always feel the best thing to do is to keep away and let people who do know what they're doing handle the situation.
Louise: But so basically it's keeping people safe. I think it's the long and the short of it, stop them injuring themselves.
Mark: With myoclonic seizures, these are the ones that we can all have, actually. You do get people who are epileptic and have myoclonic constantly. However, these little seizures that we have, they're actually nerve cells firing too quickly. So, it is a form of seizure. But any of us can have them. All of us do have them at some point. You and I have just mentioned the sort that we've had in the past. Anybody can have them. So, they are a natural part of the body, going awry for a sec, so to speak, that we can all have.
Mark: So, those little things are nothing to be worried about?
Louise: No.
Mark: No. Okay. Just in case anybody's out there, at least worried, they go, oh, I sometimes get those little flattery things in my arm or my eye.
Louise: If you find that you're having it continuously. So, if there's any reason that you think this may be something more significant than, I just happen to have had a twitch in my eye, for example, or what I get when I'm tired, where suddenly my skin goes twitchy just for a couple of seconds, anything more than that, get it checked over. If in doubt, go and see your GP every time. But yeah, generally, one now and then is perfectly normal. It's just the body being the body. It can't work perfectly every minute of the day. It works pretty well most of the time, but like anything, you know, it does go awry from time to time.
Mark: It works pretty well most of the time. Exactly.
Louise: Absolutely. From what I can see.
Mark: When you think of all those nerve pathways and all those synapses firing throughout the day and night, it's not surprising that every now and then you get a couple of misfire, you know.
Louise: Yeah, it's incredible, really. Right. OK, then I'll tell you what we'll talk about now very quickly, because we're nearly at the end of the podcast. It's gone in my head. It's gone past very quickly. I don't know.
Mark: Likewise. Yeah, it has indeed.

Future Topics and Training

Mark: So let's quickly talk about what we're going to be doing in the future, because Louise runs Madeleys First Aid Plus, of course. And what you do is you do training, don't you, mainly? That's predominantly what you do.
Louise: Yes. And you do training for first aiders in work environments or in, I don't know, as you say, the rugby club and those sort of things.
Mark: Anything, yeah.
Louise: Yeah. So what we thought we'd talk about is what you would need specifically in which working environment. So whether you're in an office or you're in a factory or you're farming or your sports club, sort of festival events, things like that. And we'd have a look at that and see what you need to do and what provision you need to have. Yeah. Different industries, different sports clubs, obviously. But I've recently become an emergency first aid for rugby union trainer. So I work for the RFU in the county. We only have a couple of people that do that in this county. So if you know anybody who works for a rugby club or is involved in the rugby club, they must be trained for the emergency first aid for rugby union, not just first aid at work or emergency first aid at work. They do need that qualification. So if you know anybody who, any rugby clubs that need that training, need that qualification, do let me know. It is a very important subject that it depends. It's very sport specific. So the FA, for example, have their own training specifically for football, the same with rugby, the same with hockey, the same with canoeing. These are all sports where very different things can go wrong and do go wrong. So it's important that you get the right training, which again is exactly what I do. So I can do anything from specific for motorcyclists or mountain bikers, et cetera, different types of training. So we're going to be looking at first aid training for all different kinds of environments and situations. So what we're going to be talking about in the next episode is...

First Aid in the Office

Louise: People who work in an office.
Mark: And first aid provision for them.
Louise: Absolutely. What you need in your first aid box, compliance, making sure that you're compliant with the Health and Safety Executive and likely injuries. It is a low-risk environment generally. However, you can have people working in an office that may have multiple medical conditions, for example. And it's knowing what to do in those situations as much as anything.
Mark: Fantastic. That's what we're going to be doing over the next few episodes. So whatever environment you work in, or whether you're a sportsman or whatever it is, we'll be talking about first aid provision in those situations.

Upcoming Events and Training Opportunities

Louise: Yeah, it's a big time of year. We've got Restart a Heart coming up. So a day, which is 16th of October, is set aside for Restart a Heart. It's about raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, people having heart attacks, etc., which leads to cardiac arrest and delivering CPR. So it's about raising awareness so that people, everybody can do the very basic airway breathing CPR and how to use a defib. So I work as a community first responder, which is a voluntary job, and I deliver free training, I say training as in sessions of CPR and how to use a defibrillator. I'm very pleased to say we've just managed to get a grant for Much When Lock for another defib, which is great. So we're going to be doing a lot of awareness sessions around Much When Lock to promote and teach people how to do the very basics, airway, breathing, and do CPR using a defib. We need to get this fear of using defibs out of the way. So we're going to be doing that throughout October, from October the 16th onwards. If anybody's in the area, come along. I'll be putting dates on to both the Community First Responder Facebook group, but also through my social media as well. So Madeleys First Aid Plus. We will give you all the details of that in a little while. Two episodes, if you want to brush up on those subjects. Episode five, Heart Attacks and Cardiac Arrests. And episode six, which is CPR and Defibrillators. And we sat here in the studio with the defibrillator, and we went through all the instructions it gave you, and Louise explained exactly how to do that. So they are really, really important episodes, especially during this month of October, Restart a Heart Month.
Louise: So episode five and episode six of First Aid Unboxed. And tell your friends and colleagues about these, and get them to listen as well, because if we can just save one life, it would have been worth it. So if you go onto the British Heart Foundation or hashtag Restart a Heart 2024, and you will find all the information on there, you can literally just go onto the Recess Council, British Heart Foundation, any of these, and they do have a training module there that you can do online immediately. It's just five minutes of your time. Do go on and do it. It's well worth it. The brain does not understand the difference between reality and fake when it comes to rehearsing things in your brain. So if you practice the scenario, just on a pillow, anything, then your brain won't recognize that you haven't done it in real life. So when it comes to, if you do have to perform, it will have that information stored in its memory. It's really important if you can just do a few practices now and then. So once a month, just go on to the British Heart Foundation and do one of their scenarios.
Mark: That's all that's needed. But do come along. The information will be on our Community First Responder Facebook. It will also be on my social media, which is Madeleys First Aid Plus. But this isn't a Madeleys thing, this is a Community First Responder initiative that we're doing. And that's Community First Responder for Much When Lock in Toronto. Much When Lock, yeah. And you can donate through our page as well.
Louise: Excellent. Okay. And as I said, listen to those two episodes as well, episode six and episode five of the First Aid Plus podcast, which are both about heart attacks and CPR and defibrillators. If people want to get in touch with you, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
Mark: Via email, enquiries@madeleysfirstaidplus.co.uk or by phone 01952 727 007.
Louise: And all the details are on the Madeleys First Aid Plus website?
Mark: Absolutely. And Facebook and all the social media platforms.

Final Thoughts and Upcoming Episodes

Mark: Brilliant. Okay. Thank you very much, Louise.
Louise: Thank you for that fantastic insight into seizures and epilepsy. I learned a lot of things today, as I said. Which I would have even imagined. And it turns out I have lots of little funny tics.
Mark: Don't we all?
Louise: Exactly.
Mark: Exactly. We will be back in a couple of weeks' time. As I said, we're going to be talking about various work and leisure scenarios where first aid is something that you need to think about. So towards the end of October, we'll be back again and we'll be talking about first aid in the office. Thank you very much, Louise, and we will speak to you then.
Louise: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Mark: This is a 1386 audio production.
________________________________________
Connect with Madeley's First Aid Plus
• Website: madeleysfirstaidplus.co.uk
• Email: enquiries@madeleysfirstaidplus.co.uk
________________________________________
Subscribe to First Aid Unboxed
Find us on your preferred podcast platform by searching for First Aid Unboxed. Subscribe, follow, and leave a review to support the podcast!
________________________________________
Stay Tuned for Episode 9
Next week, we'll delve into first aid in the office, discussing what you need in your first aid box, compliance with health and safety regulations, and how to handle common medical conditions in a low-risk environment.

‍