Medical Dramas May Accurately Portray Proper Care for Seizures

Popular medical dramas don't always portray medical treatment accurately. A new study found that seizure care was depicted appropriately less than half the time on major fictional medical shows.

"People who are watching these television shows and don't know how to respond might get the false impression of how to provide first aid, and, when they're trying to help someone having a seizure, actually do some harm to them by stuff they learned on television," said researcher Andrew Moeller of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

The study looked at the depiction of seizure care for all episodes of "Grey's Anatomy," House, M.D.," and "Private Practice," and the last five seasons of "ER." The research will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, in April.

In nearly 46 percent of seizure cases, characters on these shows delivered inappropriate treatments such as holding the person down, trying to stop involuntary movements or putting something in the person's mouth, the study said. The shows did show proper treatment about 29 percent of the time, and in the remaining 25 percent of the time, the accuracy of the portrayal couldn't be determined.

Proper care for seizing patients is to clear the area of dangerous objects, put something soft under the head, rotate them onto their side, make sure they don't hurt themselves while convulsing, and provide support by just being with them until they return to consciousness. Do not stick something in the patient's mouth.