Seizure Recognition and First Aid – General Audiences

This is a 1 hour training program designed to teach the general public basic information about epilepsy. The program identifies and describes the most common types of seizures and dispels many common myths associated with epilepsy. Attendees will learn how to identify seizures and provide appropriate seizure first aid. Training includes a video presentation and handout materials.

 Seizure Recognition and First Aid - School Personnel

This training program is designed to train teachers, aides, librarians, bus drivers, staff and general school personnel about epilepsy. Training consists of a one hour presentation that identifies and describes the most common types of seizures seen in the student population. School personnel will be given the information they will need to be able to recognize seizures and the impact they can have on students. They will also be taught how to respond to seizures with appropriate first aid. Handouts are included and the video portion of each presentation can be adjusted for an elementary or secondary educational institution.

 Managing Students with Seizures: A Training for School Nurses

This is a 3.5 hour training program developed by the CDC and the national Epilepsy Foundation. It is specifically designed for school nurses and continuing education credits are available to all school RNs who complete this training. This program provides the school nurse with information, strategies and resources that enable him/her to better manage students with seizures by supporting positive treatment outcomes, maximizing educational and developmental opportunities and creating a safe and supportive environment.

 Seizures After Sixty

This is a forty-five minute training program designed for seniors with epilepsy, their families and their caregivers. The focus of the training is to review specific issues relating to seniors with epilepsy. The program reviews seizure recognition and first aid in addition to providing information on starting a support group for seniors living with seizure disorders. The training consists of a power point presentation, an accompanying video and educational hand outs. This training program is designed to provide important information about epilepsy in the elderly to nursing home staff, medical professionals, seniors living with epilepsy and their supporters.

 Women and Epilepsy Initiative

The focus of this training program is the discussion of critical issues relating to women’s health and epilepsy. Topics covered include the hormonal effects of epilepsy, the impact of seizures on fertility and birth control, pregnancy and parenting issues, menopause and epilepsy, and the long-term effects of medication on a women’s health. This is one hour training consists of a power point presentation and educational handouts for women with epilepsy and their healthcare providers.

 Take Charge of the Facts: An Epilepsy Awareness Program for Teens

This program consists of a core training module on seizure recognition and first aid that targets high school and middle school students, ages 11 to 18. The program can be completed during a 45 minute class period and can tie directly into school health education classes, social studies classes or biology classes. It can also be easily adapted for non-school settings. The goal of this training program is to have the students achieve an understanding of epilepsy as a medical condition; to identify and learn about different type of seizures; and to learn what to do and what not to do when someone is having a seizure. Training includes a power point presentation, an accompanying DVD presentation and an integrated work sheet, quiz and epilepsy fact sheet.

 Kids on the Block Program on Epilepsy

This is a unique program that features life-sized puppets and is targeted towards young children. The training is designed to encourage understanding and acceptance of children who have seizure disorders or other disabilities. The program explains and defines epilepsy and seizures. Further, it examines other elements of seizure disorders, like learning disabilities, social stigma, and emotional issues. The program models good seizure first aid practices and teaches children to emphasize the sameness of people with disabilities rather than the differences. Children are encouraged to interact with the puppets, to talk about their feelings and ask questions about epilepsy and seizures.

 H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People with Epilepsy) Mentoring Program

This program was designed to allow people who live with epilepsy to educate others and share their experiences. It is a patient education program that trains persons with epilepsy to be ‘patient educators’ throughout the epilepsy and healthcare communities. The goals of the program are to improve communication about epilepsy within the general community, to offer an exciting new way for people with seizures to learn through shared experience, to serve as a positive resource for epilepsy patients, family and healthcare providers, and to provide a mechanism to inform audiences about the resources available to people with epilepsy.

 Take Another Look: Police Response to Seizures and Epilepsy

On any given shift law enforcement officers may encounter persons exhibiting confused behavior, an inability to communicate or a variety of behaviors inappropriate to the time and place in which they occur. In some cases these episodes of altered behavior may be caused by seizures. This is a training designed to teach police officers and sheriff’s deputies how to respond appropriately to seizures in any situation. The program includes training in how to recognize seizures, how to correctly respond to seizures in the community and reviews the unique needs of individuals with epilepsy who are taken into custody for any reason. The purpose of the training is to enhance officers’ and deputies’ understanding of the nature and causes of seizures and how disturbances in brain function affect consciousness and behavior. It also teaches techniques and procedures that are needed to handle seizure-related calls more effectively and ways to recognize the distinctive features which indicate a seizure is taking place.