The EFF USF-T co-wrote the Resolution in collaboration with USF’s Student Government.
Courtesy of USF
By Aubrey Carr
The University of South Florida’s Student Government (SG) Senate took a step toward increased education on seizure safety and epilepsy awareness.
In collaboration with Epilepsy Foundation Florida USF-Tampa (EFF USF-T), the SG Senate signed off on the Seizure First Aid Training Resolution on February 22.
According to the resolution, EFF USF-T will offer bi-weekly Seizure First Aid (SFA) certifications to interested students for free. To receive a certificate, participants are required to complete a short pre-test, the entirety of the SFA workshop and a final test.
Workshops educate participants on how to safely handle a situation in which a person may have a seizure, as well as dismantle myths surrounding epilepsy and seizures.
The workshop is taught by EFF-certified instructors and is available in-person or virtually. Each certification lasts for two years and is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control.
The EFF USF-T was co-written by President Shanon Rego, a senior cell and molecular biology major, and Vice President Prema Mansi Kallepalli, a junior biomedical science major. Senate Relations Committee Chairwoman Amy Pham, a sophomore biomedical science major and SG’s vice president-elect, sponsored the resolution.
“Shanon and Prema reached out to me asking about writing a resolution regarding Seizure First Aid and Training,” Pham said. “I thought it was a wonderful idea, so I met with them to go over what exactly a resolution is, the process of writing a resolution and the process of passing a resolution through the Relations Committee and Senate.”
Resolutions are statements backed by the SG Senate, informing on critical issues impacting the student body.
“The Seizure First Aid Training Resolution is a way to raise awareness on epilepsy and promote seizure first aid training resources to the USF community,” Pham said.
While SFA training is currently stationed at USF Tampa, EFF USF-T is working to include the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses in its programming.
“[EFF USF-T] included a portion in the resolution that would send this resolution to the governors of USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee,” Pham said. “I’m hoping that once the governors receive the resolution, they will consider organizing [SFA] training sessions on their campuses. Within the Senate, we are working to organize a Seizure First Aid Training session for Senators from all three campuses.”
Rego emphasized that, under consolidation, students from all campuses were invited to attend SFA training.
“Since these sessions can be held virtually, students from USF St. Petersburg can attend it at their convenience. While the current name of the chapter focuses on the Tampa campus, we still follow the ’OneUSF’ idea,” Rego said.
According to Kallepalli, seizures are more common than many think. Because of this, Kallepalli believes every student should get certified in SFA.
“One in 26 people in the U.S. will develop epilepsy at some point in their life and one in 10 people will experience a seizure,” she said.
Rego concurred, stressing the importance of being educated about epilepsy.
“Despite the high prevalence of epilepsy, there is this unwarranted stigma associated with it that impairs the mental and physical health outcomes of those with epilepsy,” he said.
“Seizures can happen to anyone, anywhere, and at any time. Thus, it is important that as many people as possible be certified in SFA so that they know what to do and what not to do in the event someone has a seizure,” Rego said.
Raising awareness about medical circumstances is truly half the battle. We have a health club at my school and we’ve recently focused on athletic injuries. It’s astounding how many people my age don’t know about foot crush injury and its symptoms: https://www.premiermedicalhv.com/divisions/services/crush-injury-in-the-foot/.