 Hi, this is Dr. Pramod Krishnan. I'm a consultant neurologist at Manipal Hospital Bangalore. I specialize in epilepsy. During a seizure, the immediate priority is safety of the patient. So the patient has to be made to lie horizontal onto one side, either the right or the left. This allows any secretions in the mouth to come out of the mouth rather than going into the throat or lungs causing suffocation. Very often we do find patients jerking violently during a seizure. All we need to do is to support the patient onto one side, either the right or the left and make sure that the jerking doesn't result in striking against any furniture or walls to avoid injury to the patient. No attempt should be made to try and restrain the jerking by applying force involving one or more people because this might lead to injuries to the patient. Tear in the muscles or the ligaments or even joint dislocations. During a seizure, some patients end up biting their tongue causing bleeding from the injury. This may be very alarming to see but no attempt should be made to prevent a tongue bite. Trying to do so by inserting fingers between the teeth, stuffing cloth between the teeth or inserting spoon or other objects into the between the teeth or trying to pry open the mouth can actually lead to injury to the teeth, gums, jaw or may even end up suffocating the patient. A tongue injury during a seizure is a very minor injury and it usually heals completely within a few days. During a seizure nothing should be given to the patient by mouth neither water, juice, sugar or any other eatables. During a seizure or immediately after a seizure the patient will not be able to swallow normally and the food items may actually end up in the throat or the lungs leading to very bad respiratory infections.