Do Medical Shows Depict Proper First Aid for Seizures?
From the American Academy of Neurology in ST. PAUL, Minn. – Watching TV medical shows might not be the best way to learn what to do when someone has a seizure. Researchers screened the most popular medical dramas and found that doctors and nurses on the shows responded inappropriately to seizures almost half the time, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. (Listen to exclusive comments from Brien Smith, MD, member of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board and Board of Directors, as he discusses proper seizure first aid, and the impact of popular culture depictions of seizures.) “Television dramas are a potentially powerful method of educating the public about first aid and seizures,” said study author Andrew Moeller, with Dalhousie University, Halifax, in Nova Scotia, Canada. “Our results, showing that television shows inaccurately showed seizure manageme
