You're walking down the street. Suddenly the man in front of you staggers, falls over and begins to shake. His speech is slurred. He seems confused. No one else is around.
What do you do? Dismiss him as drunk and keep going? Or realise that he might be having an epileptic seizure and needs your help?
This is thinking behind Purple Day on March 26, which encourages the community to watch a short video illustrating the basics of seizure first aid in order to reduce the fear they may experience if someone has a seizure in front of them and requires assistance.
About 250,000 Australians are currently diagnosed with epilepsy, and about 3.5% of the population will experience this neurological disorder at some point in their lifetime.
Globally, more than 65 million people have epilepsy, making it the world's most common serious brain disorder.
But despite this, it remains shrouded in mystery and misconceptions for much of the community.
"Every year for Purple Day, Epilepsy Action works to bring epilepsy out of the shadows and increase awareness of the impact that this condition can have on individuals and families," says Carol Ireland, chief executive of Epilepsy Action Australia.
"This year our focus is on highlighting the potentially life-saving benefits of seizure first aid.
"We believe having more friends, family members, colleagues and acquaintances know what to do if someone has a seizure will help make people with epilepsy feel more confident and secure carrying on with their day-to-day lives, knowing that if they do have a seizure, someone will be able to help them."
Malinda Hayward, a yoga instructor from Sydney who was diagnosed with epilepsy 10 years ago, has experienced several tonic-clonic seizures (also called convulsive or grand mal seizures) that have seen her lose consciousness for up to 20 minutes at a time.
She says she would feel much more confident if the level of awareness of seizure first aid was higher within the community.
"Knowing what to do if someone has a seizure can literally be life-saving," she says. "And the key steps are very simple - make sure the person is safe and can't hurt themselves and then just let them ride out the seizure.
"Don't try to hold them down or put your hands near their mouth, that will only make things worse and could cause injury to yourself.
"Seizures can last for a few seconds or for a long time, so if you can time it on your watch or phone that will help medical staff afterwards.
"If it lasts longer than five minutes, call an ambulance."
Jodi Williams, from Perth, is another firm believer in the importance of knowing seizure first aid.
Her son Benjamin, now 7, was first diagnosed with epilepsy as a toddler, and experiences several seizures a week.
Jodi believes it's important to acknowledge that seizures can be frightening, but that learning how to respond can minimise that fear.
"Witnessing a seizure can be scary," she says. "But if you know how to help the person, you'll feel more confident and in control. And it's not difficult to learn, even kids can learn seizure first aid."
To help people understand the simple steps to take when someone has a seizure, Epilepsy Action has developed a series of animated videos for both adults and children. To see them go to www.epilepsy.org.au and look under Purple Day.
SOME SIGNS OF A SEIZURE:
- Temporary confusion
- A staring spell
- Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs
- Loss of consciousness or awareness
- Psychic symptoms such as fear, anxiety or deja-vu
- Symptoms vary depending on the type of seizure. In most cases, a person with epilepsy will tend to have the same type of seizure each time, so the symptoms will be similar from episode to episode.
- From www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/epilepsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20350093
IF SOMEBODY HAS ONE:
- Stay with them
- Keep them safe, removing anything that could hurt them
- Don't try to restrain them
- Ignore the common wisdom and don't put anything in their mouth
- Roll them onto their side once jerking/shaking subsides
- Reassure them until they have recovered
- Call an ambulance if the seizure lasts longer than five minutes
READ MORE: 'Epilepsy training needed in more schools'