Epilepsy with Emergency Medication

Epilepsy with Emergency Medication

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Epilepsy with Emergency Medication Training. Practical buccal midazolam competency. The decision-making framework that staff need when a seizure becomes a crisis.

Course Overview

A care worker came to training having already administered buccal midazolam in an emergency. The individual had been hospitalised. When we worked through the administration technique in the session, the gap became clear immediately: she had put the medication onto the tongue, not into the buccal cavity. She hadn’t been shown the difference. Her protocol document said ‘administer buccally’, and nothing had ever shown her, in practice, what that meant.

The medication didn’t absorb correctly. A seizure that could have been managed in the community became a hospital admission.

That’s the most consistent failure point we see in emergency epilepsy medication training: care workers who have a protocol, have signed to say they understand it, and have never physically practised the technique before the moment it counted.

Knowing that buccal midazolam should be administered into the buccal cavity is not the same as being able to do it correctly under pressure, on a person who may be post-ictal, frightened, and pushing you away.

Epilepsy with Emergency Medication Training gives staff the understanding of epilepsy and seizure types they need as a foundation, then builds the specific practical competency that a signed protocol and a certificate of attendance cannot provide. By the end, learners know precisely when to administer emergency rescue medication, how to administer it correctly, and when not to: because attempting to administer to someone who has already come out of a seizure is dangerous and distressing for that individual, and getting that decision right requires practice, not just knowledge

For face-to-face sessions, competency sign-off is available against the Epilepsy Nurses Association (ENA) framework, with documentation suitable for staff files.

The course is aligned with NICE guideline NG217 (Epilepsies: diagnosis and management, updated 2024), Epilepsy Action professional guidance, the Epilepsy Nurses Association framework, and the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 guidelines. It reflects the legal framework governing Schedule 2 Controlled Drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and aligns with the Care Quality Commission’s requirements under Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment).

Course Details

• Duration: Half a Day or Full Day, depending on group size and practical assessment requirements
• Delivery: In-person at your venue for the full course, including practical competency. Theory element available online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams
• Certificate: CPD-accredited certificate in Epilepsy Awareness with Emergency Medication
• Competency sign-off: Available on request for face-to-face sessions, against the ENA framework, with documentation suitable for staff files
• Validity: 2 years
• Group size: Up to 12 learners

Who This Course Is For

This course is for staff whose role includes administering prescribed emergency rescue medication to individuals with epilepsy.

It’s the right course for:

• Care assistants and support workers in care homes, supported living, and domiciliary care
• Senior carers and team leaders responsible for emergency medication protocols
• Personal Assistants supporting individuals via Direct Payments or Personal Health Budgets
• Special school staff and SEND support teams
• Residential and supported living teams supporting individuals with a known seizure history
• Nurses and clinical staff requiring a structured refresher with formal competency sign-off

Staff should only administer emergency rescue medication where it has been prescribed for a named individual, where they are authorised under their organisation’s medication administration policy, and where they have received appropriate training, including practical competency assessment. This course supports all three requirements.

For staff who need epilepsy awareness without medication administration, our Epilepsy Awareness Training gives the knowledge and response confidence without the medication component. If you’re not certain which course is right for different members of your team, the decision guide further down this page will help you work it out.

Why Organisations Book With Prima Cura

Most training providers arrive with a course. We arrive with yours.

Before the day, we gather information about your workplace: your incident reporting forms, your internal procedures, and the specific hazards your team actually faces. On the day, your trainer works that into every scenario, every discussion, every practical exercise. If your staff work in a care home, they’re not practising on hypothetical office workers. If your team are lone workers, that context shapes how the session runs.

It means the training lands. Not because it was well-delivered in a generic sense, but because it was relevant to the people in the room and the situations they’ll actually encounter.

A few other things that matter to the organisations that book with us:

• 98.9% learner satisfaction across all Prima Cura courses
• All trainers hold Enhanced DBS certificates and maintain ongoing CPD
• We advise honestly on qualification level at the enquiry stage. If a different course is a better fit for your workforce, we’ll say so before you book, not after

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

What Learners Will Be Able to Do

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

• Identify all seizure types, including the subtler presentations most commonly missed or misinterpreted in care settings
• Recognise when a seizure is becoming prolonged and accurately apply the five-minute threshold for emergency intervention
• Apply the correct decision-making framework to determine when emergency rescue medication should and should not be administered
• Administer buccal midazolam correctly, safely, and in line with the individual’s prescribed care plan
• Locate, verify, and access rescue medication under pressure
• Explain the legal restrictions on buccal midazolam as a Schedule 2 Controlled Drug, including the named-individual rule
• Monitor an individual following medication administration and know when a 999 call is required
• Record medication administration accurately in line with controlled drug documentation requirements
• Respond appropriately in the post-ictal period, including distinguishing post-ictal recovery from continued emergency
• Communicate effectively with emergency services, families, and healthcare professionals following a seizure emergency

What the Day Covers

All content reflects NICE guideline NG217 (Epilepsies: diagnosis and management, updated 2024), Epilepsy Action professional guidance, and the Epilepsy Nurses Association framework throughout. Topics covered include:

Understanding Epilepsy

• Epilepsy: causes, diagnosis, and the most persistent myths in care settings
• The full spectrum of seizure types: tonic-clonic, focal aware, focal impaired awareness, absence, myoclonic, and atonic
• Seizure triggers, individual risk factors, and how care plans and epilepsy management plans reflect these
• Reading, following, and contributing to an individual’s emergency epilepsy protocol

Recognising a Seizure Emergency

• Status epilepticus: clinical definition, recognition, and why it is a medical emergency
• The five-minute threshold and repeated seizures without recovery
• The decision-making framework: when emergency medication is required and when it is not

Emergency Medication Administration

• Buccal midazolam: what it is, how it works, and why correct technique and placement matter
• Rectal diazepam: when it may be prescribed as an alternative
• Schedule 2 Controlled Drug requirements: storage, access, recording, and the named-individual rule
• Consent and legal considerations for emergency medication administration
• Practical administration simulation with direct trainer observation and feedback (face-to-face sessions)
• Competency sign-off against the Epilepsy Nurses Association framework (face-to-face, available on request)

Post-Emergency Care and Documentation

• Monitoring following administration: what to observe and what to record
• When to call 999 and what information to give emergency services
• Post-ictal care: supporting recovery with dignity
• Controlled drug documentation and accurate medication administration records
• Communication with families, GPs, and specialist epilepsy teams following an emergency
• Airway management and the BLS principles relevant to seizure emergencies

Every course is also built to include your industry-specific common risks and your organisation’s incident reporting systems as standard.

How the Course Is Delivered

The theory element of this course is available online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The practical element, including medication administration simulation and competency sign-off, is only available face-to-face.

For most organisations booking this course, face-to-face delivery is the right choice: the whole point of the practical component is that staff experience the technique before they need it, not after.

Competency in emergency medication administration cannot be demonstrated through theory alone. In face-to-face sessions, every learner practises the administration technique on a simulation trainer, working through the decision-making process in real-time scenarios before the trainer observes and signs off their competency against the Epilepsy Nurses Association framework. Competency documentation is available on request for inclusion in staff files and CQC inspection evidence.

Delivery includes:

• Clinically grounded explanation of seizure types, status epilepticus, and the decision-making framework for medication administration
• Scenario-based work covering the situations most likely to cause hesitation or error, including recognising post-ictal recovery and knowing when not to administer
• Practical buccal midazolam administration simulation with direct trainer observation and feedback
• Competency sign-off against the Epilepsy Nurses Association framework (on request, face-to-face sessions only)
• Review of the emergency epilepsy protocol, medication storage and access, and documentation requirements
• Time for questions: this course consistently generates them once learners start working through real scenarios

We also design each course to incorporate your specific emergency epilepsy protocols, your organisation’s medication governance documents, and the particular rescue medications prescribed for individuals you support.

Why This Epilepsy with Emergency Medication Training Matters

Status epilepticus is a prolonged seizure or a series of seizures without recovery between them. NICE guideline NG217 sets the threshold clearly: a tonic-clonic seizure lasting five minutes or more, or two or more seizures without full recovery, requires immediate intervention. For individuals with prescribed rescue medication, that intervention is buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam, administered by a trained and authorised member of staff while emergency services are called.

Buccal midazolam is a Schedule 2 Controlled Drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. This classification carries specific legal requirements for storage, recording, and administration. It is prescribed for a named individual. It must not be administered to any other person, regardless of whether another service user also has rescue medication prescribed. This is a legal requirement and one of the most consistently misunderstood points in care settings where more than one resident has a seizure history.

CQC Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment) requires providers to protect individuals from avoidable harm. For services supporting people with epilepsy and prescribed rescue medication, that means staff who are trained, competent, and able to demonstrate that competence in a documented and auditable way. A CPD certificate combined with a competency sign-off document gives inspection teams exactly that evidence. A certificate without demonstrated practical competency does not.

This course also supports Care Certificate Standard 3 (Duty of Care), which requires care workers to understand and fulfil their responsibilities to protect individuals from harm. For any worker whose role includes emergency medication administration, that duty is not met by awareness training alone.

Epilepsy Awareness Training or Emergency Medication Training?

Some staff need epilepsy awareness. Some staff need medication competency. Many organisations need both, but for different members of the team. The distinction is straightforward once you know it.

Epilepsy Awareness Training is right for staff who support individuals with epilepsy but are not required to administer rescue medication. It covers seizure recognition, safe seizure response, the most common myths, and what to do while waiting for emergency services. It’s appropriate for all frontline staff in care settings where epilepsy is part of the population they support.

Epilepsy Awareness with Emergency Medication Training is right for the staff who have medication administration as part of their role: the carers, team leaders, and support workers who will actually be reaching for the buccal midazolam when a seizure reaches the five-minute threshold. It builds on the awareness content and adds the controlled drug legal framework, the decision-making training for when to administer, and the hands-on practical competency that the awareness course does not and cannot include.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a CPD-accredited certificate of achievement in Epilepsy Awareness with Emergency Medication, valid for 2 years.

For face-to-face sessions where competency sign-off has been requested and completed, a separate competency document is available for inclusion in the learner’s staff file and as CQC inspection evidence. This is the difference between a certificate of attendance and a record of demonstrated practical competency. For a skill of this clinical significance, that difference matters.

Where We Deliver

We deliver in-house training at your workplace or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West.

We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey. All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors.

FAQs

Related Courses

• Epilepsy Awareness Training
• Basic Life Support (BLS) & AED Training
• Medication Administration Training

Book or Enquire

To book this course or request a quote for your team, use the enquiry form on this page or contact us directly. Tell us your team size, your sector, and your preferred dates. We’ll come back with a quote and any advice on qualification level if you need it.

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice. All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from NICE, the Epilepsy Nurses Association, Epilepsy Action, the Resuscitation Council UK, and the Care Quality Commission, and current UK legislation, including NICE guideline NG217 (Epilepsies: diagnosis and management, updated 2024), the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: May 2026 | Next review: May 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects current UK legislation, NICE guidance, and sector best practice as of the date of review. It does not constitute clinical, legal, or medical advice. Completion of this course does not independently authorise staff to administer emergency rescue medication. Staff may only administer buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam where it has been prescribed for the named individual, where they are expressly authorised to do so under their organisation’s medication administration policy, and where they have received appropriate training, including practical competency assessment. Buccal midazolam is a Schedule 2 Controlled Drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and must be stored, recorded, and administered in accordance with all applicable legal requirements. It must not be administered to any individual other than the named person on the prescription under any circumstances. Emergency rescue medication must always be administered in conjunction with a 999 call for emergency services. Organisations remain responsible for ensuring their medication policies, governance frameworks, and staff authorisation processes comply with all applicable legislation and CQC regulatory requirements. .

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