The Swiss League Against Epilepsy shows how to provide first aid during a seizure – with floor visuals, too. Three people with epilepsy tell the public: „Help. Don’t look away.“
September 2020 – Hand on heart: Would you know what to do if someone had an epileptic seizure? If the answer’s no, you’re not alone, because lots of people feel powerless when they see someone having a seizure. One in a hundred people live with epilepsy and many of them have witnessed bystanders looking away, laughing at them or filming them instead of providing first aid.
Yet helping is easy: the key thing is to immediately prevent the person from being injured. And even though seizures can look really awful, they generally end quickly with no need for intervention. So it’s not usually necessary to ring an ambulance.
From 21 September 2020 the Swiss League Against Epilepsy is using posters, online ads and a short film to give people this important information. Three people who have epilepsy have agreed to star in the campaign and share their experiences. A highlight of the campaign will be Epilepsy Day on 5 October.
The League has produced particularly eye-catching visuals for the campaign in the form of floor stickers – after all lots of epileptic seizures play out on the ground. Petra Hilber, the graphic designer who created them, has first-hand experience of seizures, as she herself has epilepsy.