Seizure Success^® and You!

Seizures and Water Safety

Some simple suggestions on how to stay safe when enjoying activities around water.

Do you ever wonder if swimming is safe for a person who has seizures? Is your access to water involved activities limited because of seizures? We have compiled a few resources to help releave some concern and reduce the risk involved with seizures and associated water activities.

Some suggested safety precautions...
Taking proper precautions can help keep individuals with seizures safer while increasing access to water related activites and promoting independence.

• Talk to you doctor about risk - Your health care provider can offer advice on risk level for your personal seizure type. They may look at what happens during a seizure, how frequently they happen, what time of day they typically occur and advise you on how those characterisitics impact the risk. While your doctors and care providers may make these sugesstions, it is up to the individual with seizures and their family to determine how best to keep one another safe.
• Never swim alone/alert lifeguards - Avoid swimming or being in close proximity to water without someone aware of your seizure history close by. Tell lifeguards or friends about your seizures.
• Keep medication handy - Remember to have rescue medication handy. Also, make sure to pack your daily medicine with you on extended trips. Note: Some medication may be heat sensitive and need to be stored accordingly.
• Use appropriate safety equiptment - The type of water activity you are doing may determine what safety equitment is most appropriate. Review the types of flotation devices best suite your needs while understanding that having a seizure may impact how effective the floatation device may be. See lifejacket information below.
• Avoid stress - Getting overheated and fatigued can be common stresses for your body during summer water activities. Unfortunetly, these are also common triggers for seizures and may increase your risk level.
• Know your seizure signals - Knowing your seizure signs may help in understand when you might have a seizures. These warnings might enable you to change your situation and the associated risk level.

Warning!
Everyones seizure risk is different. Use the suggestions above according to your doctors recommendations.