Seizure

System

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do with this situation. One of the employee had just talked with me and told me that if she goes into a seizure she does not want us to call an ambulance. I asked her if this happened often and if they were serious seizures. She stated that they did not happen very often and they were very mild. She can usually tell when they are coming on. She said she had testing done and they have not diagnosed her as a diabetic. She said they could not give a reason for the seizures. Can I have this employee sign something stating that per her request if she were to have a seizure that the company not call an ambulance unless (she stated if she did go out it would not be more than a minute or 2) she was out for more than 2 minutes or hit her head and was bleeding. I do realize that this agreement probably would not stand up in court if it came down to it)

Any advice on this matter would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Spoden

annie1992

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-20-03 AT 08:31AM (CST)[/font][p]I can only say that, as the mother of a 20 year old daughter with a seizure disorder, there is a very high probability that calling an ambulance is not only unnecessary, but by the time an ambulance arrived your employee would probably no longer be seizing. That said, people DO hurt themselves falling etc. when having a seizure. If her seizures are mild, she probably doesn't fall or lose consciousness, that happens in the serious grand mal seizures. You might want to ask her what happens when she has a seizure. Does she convulse or lose consciousness (probably not if her seizures are mild). Does she simply stare off and "not be with us" for a few minutes, or make unintelligible noises, or just stop what she is doing and lose her place?

In addition, most seizure disorders have no diagnosed cause, so she will probably never be able to tell you why she has seizures. Our neurologist tell me that there "are no humans who don't have seizures, there are only humans that haven't had a seizure yet". My daughter's seizures are well controlled with medication and she hasn't had one in nearly three years. Your employee may very well never have another one, or they may continue. Is her doctor considering medication?

There are millions of people with seizure disorders, one out of ten Americans. It isn't unusual, it usually isn't dangerous, it can be controlled in most instances and the new medications work well. Seizures can be caused by low or high blood sugar, drinking too much, dehydration, stress, asthma or a hundred other things. If you have only one employee with seizures, you are lucky. Out of five support staff I have two with asthma, two more with migraines and two that have seized (although not at work).

Annie (stepping off her soap box)