Water Safety With Epilepsy

Below are tips to consider when swimming or taking part in other water activities:

• Make sure that lifeguards know about your child’s seizures and any other health concerns. However, the lifeguard is supervising the entire pool, and cannot pay adequate close attention to one person with epilepsy.
• Make sure all children with a history of seizures swim with supervision by someone who knows how to swim and provide emergency help.
• Children with frequent seizures or seizures that impair consciousness may need 1-to-1 supervision and may not be allowed to swim in water that is over their head.
• Check all lifejackets and personal flotation devices – make sure they are intact and work properly.
• Use of a lifejacket or personal flotation device is recommended for children in or near open bodies of water or during water activities. Remember that inflatable toys or ‘water wings’ are not flotation safety devices.
• Children with seizures should always swim with a buddy.
• Encourage your child to take swimming lessons.
• Discourage diving into a river, lake or ocean.