Posted on 04/11/22
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
For a parent whose child suffers from epilepsy, sending them off to school in Maryland each day comes with added stress.
That’s because very few teachers and administrators and even nurses are trained to deal with seizures, but that will all be changing.
Brynleigh's Act is a bill created by Lauren Shillinger, who is the mother of an eight-year-old named Brynleigh who suffers from a rare seizure disorder.
Lauren spent years advocating for change by encouraging school seizure safety, but now four years later, the bill is approved and Maryland schools will be required to have trained seizure experts on site.
"Seizures are so common, and we need to make sure that everyone is equipped to handle those emergencies. Knowing children can go to school and be safe is really comforting and reassuring," Lauren Shillinger said.
Brynleigh's Act will require all schools to be seizure safe by Fall 2023. It will require schools to provide seizure training to all staff members, so that they know how to recognize and respond to a seizure. This is especially important for younger kids, as seizures account for the top three reasons calls are made to 911 from elementary schools.
"One in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy and one in ten will have a seizure in their lifetime, so this will not only help students and staff that already have known epilepsy or known seizures from other medical conditions, but anytime a person has a first seizure at school. This will allow for everyone to be trained," Shillinger said.