Pia K. Hansen: Seizures regularly misunderstood

Having epilepsy – what some people call a seizure disorder – can be pretty scary. Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder that sometimes doesn’t respond to drugs and sometimes changes over a lifetime. Many times it doesn’t respond to surgery, and sometimes it’s just flat-out impossible to figure out why a person has seizures.

It can be a frustrating and frightening diagnosis. I know because I have epilepsy.

It’s no fun being told that your brain doesn’t function the way it was intended to. But in my case, after a series of grand mal seizures some years ago, I found a drug that works and lets me live a normal life.

Of course I worry. I worry about being alone if I have a seizure. I worry about the hard-core side effects of the drugs I take, and I worry about how people around me will respond if they see me have a seizure.

But not until Wednesday did I ever worry about getting Tasered because of a seizure. That’s when I read the story about Trent Yohe, who was Tasered during an arrest. While there hasn’t been a definitive answer, he was allegedly having a seizure, possibly brought about by illegal drugs. He later died.

The Epilepsy Foundation of America reports on its Web site that people having seizures in a public place regularly end up in jail. The foundation took on the case of Daniel Beloungea, of Michigan, last year. Beloungea had a seizure, and because of the jerking motions, bystanders thought he was masturbating in public and called police. When Beloungea didn’t respond, he was Tasered and handcuffed and ended up in jail.

About 3 million Americans have epilepsy, and not all seizures are grand mals. Some are so small they aren’t visible; others look more like bouts of confusion or periods of repetitive motion.

If someone is having a seizure, there’s essentially nothing a bystander can do except try to keep the person safe, out of traffic, or away from furniture and other things that can fall over, and wait for the seizure to pass.

Don’t put something in a convulsing person’s mouth – and it’s a no-brainer that they shouldn’t be put in restraints, either, because the sheer force of the convulsions can break the seizing person’s arms and legs, or severely restrict breathing.

I’m sure the flailing and thrashing can look like the person is trying to strike out at bystanders, but the unresponsiveness should be a dead giveaway that the person having the seizure is essentially passed out.

Unconscious people don’t respond to anything, no matter who’s yelling at them.

I do understand the pressure police officers are under when they approach someone who is behaving erratically. I’ve been on ride-alongs, and I remember sitting in that police cruiser with clammy hands and ice in my stomach thinking, “Gosh, I’m glad I’m not the one who has to go up to that house and knock on the door, never knowing what waits on the other side.”

Yohe was allegedly coming off a meth high, and illicit drug use can bring on seizures.The one time EMTs were called to check up on me after a grand mal seizure, they kept asking me whether I was on drugs.

I’ve never even smoked pot, and I clearly lead a life that’s different from Yohe’s, so chances are slim I’ll end up in his position – unless I take over-the-counter allergy medication because that stops my seizure drugs from working. So does nicotine.

Regardless of how it happens, a seizure should be treated as a medical event, and any criminal matters sorted out later – end of story.

Or not quite: Personal Tasers are legal in Washington. I found one online for around $100. It reportedly emits a current similar to the 50,000-volt Tasers police use. Great – the next time someone has a seizure in public we don’t have to wait for police to show up. Grandma will just whip her personal Taser out of the good old church purse and take care of business right there.