What To Do
What To Do If Someone Has a Diabetic Seizure
Key Takeaway: If someone with diabetes has a seizure, protect them from injury, time it, call 000, and check breathing as soon as the seizure stops. Do not restrain them and do not give food or drink until they are fully awake and can swallow safely.
Many diabetic seizures are linked to severe hypoglycaemia, but your first aid does not depend on proving the cause. Treat it as a medical emergency and keep the person safe until paramedics take over.
🚨 Quick Action Guide
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Person with diabetes starts seizing | Protect the head, move hazards away, and time the seizure |
| Seizure is happening now | Call 000 and say it is a diabetes emergency with seizure activity |
| Still jerking or unconscious | Do not restrain them and do not put anything in the mouth |
| Seizure stops and they are breathing | Recovery position, monitor breathing, and stay with them |
| Not breathing normally after the seizure | Start CPR immediately and follow DRSABCD |
| Fully awake and able to swallow | If safe, follow their diabetes action plan or give fast-acting glucose while waiting for the ambulance |
Table of Contents
🚨 What To Do Immediately
1. Protect them from injury and time the seizure
Move away hard, hot, or sharp objects. Put something soft under the head if you can do that safely. Start a timer straight away. Healthdirect’s seizure guidance says seizure length matters, and a seizure lasting 5 minutes or more needs urgent emergency response.
2. Call 000 early
If the person has diabetes and is having a seizure, do not wait to see if they “snap out of it”. Healthdirect includes diabetes among the reasons to call an ambulance for a seizure, and severe hypoglycaemia guidance tells you to treat drowsiness, unconsciousness, or seizure as an ambulance case.
3. Do not hold them down and do not put anything in the mouth
Better Health Channel’s seizure first aid advice says not to restrain the person and not to put anything in their mouth. That includes glucose gel, jelly beans, water, tablets, or insulin while the seizure is happening.
4. When the seizure stops, check breathing immediately
If they are breathing but not fully awake, place them in the recovery position and keep watching closely. If they are not breathing normally, follow DRSABCD and start CPR.
5. Stay with them and keep the area calm
After a seizure, people can be confused, frightened, drowsy, or slow to respond. Do not leave them alone, and do not let them stand up or walk off too quickly.
📞 Call 000 and Say “Diabetes Emergency”
This is not a “watch and wait” situation. Call 000 and say the person has diabetes and is having, or has just had, a seizure.
- Tell the operator it is a diabetes emergency with seizure activity
- Give the exact location and whether the person is breathing normally
- Say when the seizure started and whether a second seizure has happened
- Mention insulin, diabetes medication, pregnancy, injury, alcohol, or recent illness if you know about it
Healthdirect’s seizure page specifically includes diabetes as a reason to call 000. If the seizure happened in a bath, pool, or other water setting, our guide to what to do if someone has a seizure in water covers the extra drowning risk.
🧠 Why a Diabetic Seizure Is an Emergency
When people say “diabetic seizure”, they usually mean a seizure happening in a person with diabetes, often because blood glucose has dropped dangerously low. Severe hypoglycaemia can affect the brain enough to cause confusion, collapse, unconsciousness, or seizure.
Healthdirect and Better Health Channel both note that severe hypoglycaemia can lead to unconsciousness or seizure. Your job is not to diagnose the exact glucose number on the spot. Your job is to protect the airway, protect from injury, and get urgent medical help.
Even if the seizure stops quickly, the emergency is not over. A seizure linked to diabetes can mean the person still needs monitoring, more treatment, and a medical review to prevent it happening again.
If the person only seems shaky, sweaty, confused, or faint rather than actively seizing, our guide to what to do if someone faints from low blood sugar covers the earlier-stage hypo response.
🍬 When Glucose or Glucagon Matter
Nothing by mouth during the seizure or while they cannot swallow safely
If the person is seizing, unconscious, or too drowsy to swallow, do not give sugar, fluids, food, or tablets by mouth. That creates a choking risk. Both Healthdirect and Better Health Channel say severe or unconscious hypoglycaemia should not be treated by mouth.
Once fully awake and able to swallow, glucose may help
If the seizure has stopped, the person is awake enough to swallow safely, and the ambulance is on the way, you can follow their personal diabetes plan or give fast-acting glucose such as glucose tablets, gel, fruit juice, or regular soft drink if that is what they normally use.
Glucagon only if it is available and you know how to use it
Healthdirect says that if the person has a glucagon injection and you know how to use it, you should administer it. Better Health Channel also says glucagon can be given by a trained support person for severe or unconscious hypoglycaemia. If you are not trained, focus on 000, recovery position, and breathing until paramedics arrive.
❌ What Not To Do
Do not hold them down.
Do not put anything in the mouth during the seizure.
Do not force jelly beans, glucose gel, water, or tablets into someone who is unconscious or not swallowing properly.
Do not give insulin because you think the problem “must be high sugar”. A seizure in a person with diabetes needs emergency care, not guesswork.
Do not leave them alone once the seizure stops, even if they seem embarrassed or want to get up quickly.
🎓 Why First Aid Training Matters
A diabetic seizure is a high-pressure scenario because you may be thinking about both seizure first aid and a diabetes emergency at the same time. In a HLTAID011 Provide First Aid course, you learn how to respond to seizures, unconscious casualties, breathing checks, CPR, and recovery-position care. That kind of first aid training helps you act in the right order when the situation feels chaotic.
Need A First Aid Course?
FAQs
Do I always call 000 for a diabetic seizure?
Should I put sugar or glucose gel in their mouth during the seizure?
What if they carry glucagon?
What if the seizure stops and they look better?
Quick Summary
If someone with diabetes has a seizure:
• Protect them from injury
• Time the seizure
• Call 000 and say “diabetes emergency”
• Do not restrain them
• Do not put anything in the mouth
• When it stops, check breathing
• Breathing but unconscious → recovery position
• Not breathing normally → start CPR
• Give glucose only once they are fully awake and can swallow safely
