Police officer with epilepsy helping create video to ensure unfortunate incident never happens again
Deron Hamel

Ottawa Police Service (OPS) officer Marcel Allen and the OPS Professional Development Centre are developing a training video about seizure disorders to educate law enforcement officials to help ensure an incident that happened to Allen a year and a half ago never happens to anyone else.

Once the OPS Professional Development Centre has completed the video, it will be considered for the Canadian Police Knowledge Network, a website providing training resources for Canadian police.

On Aug. 8, 2010, Allen, who has epilepsy, was off duty and driving his children to their home in Pembroke, Ont. While sitting in traffic in front of Parliament Hill he went into seizure. As Allen was coming out of seizure, a nearby RCMP officer responded, followed by Allen’s OPS colleagues.

While in what Allen describes as a “fight or flight” postictal state he struggled with officers, resulting in him being Tasered by an OPS colleague.

“Their reaction in trying to help me was probably the worst reaction that they could have had,” says Allen. “When I realized that, I thought, OK, something has to be done.”

And what had to be done, Allen says, was channel the frustration he had from this incident into something positive, and the best way to accomplish this was by educating law enforcement about seizure disorders.

The video Allen and the OPS Professional Development Centre are working on will educate law enforcement officials about what to do and what not to do to assist a person who is having a seizure.

Included in the video will be education on how police addressing individuals with a seizure disorders need to be cognizant of keeping their distance, the tone they take when speaking, and understand that a person in a postictal state cannot comprehend verbal direction.

The video will also address the fact that a person with postictal behaviours, to the untrained eye, may appear to be under the influence of controlled substances or have a mental illness.

This misunderstanding has resulted in police taking people with seizure disorders to mental-health facilities, notes Allen.

“An officer has to understand and realize this,” says Allen. “If a person is having a tonic-clonic seizure, if the person is convulsing in any way . . . they need medical attention.”

Allen has received a lot of support and encouragement from his colleagues, including the officer who Tasered him that day. The officer in the incident has even offered to appear in the video to explain his reaction.

“He called me . . . and said ‘yeah, I have no problem being a part of that video,’ ” Allen explains.

Aside from providing police training, Allen says he has another important reason for making the video.

“I want to leave a legacy for my children,” he says. “Hopefully, this is something they’ll look back on that their father did.”

If you have any feedback on this story, please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 23, or e-mail deron(at)axiomnews.ca.

Incident involving an officer with epilepsy was the catalyst for raising awareness within police force
Deron Hamel

On Aug. 8, 2010, Marcel Allen, an off-duty officer with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), was driving his children to their home in Pembroke, Ont. when he had an epileptic seizure in front of Parliament Hill. He characterizes the events that would unfold as a “turning point” in his life, one that would inspire him to raise awareness of seizure disorders within the OPS.

Shortly after Allen’s seizure ended that day, a nearby RCMP officer responded, followed by OPS officers. The RCMP officer grabbed Allen’s arm at one point. Allen, now in a “fight or flight” postictal state, began to struggle, prompting an OPS officer, a colleague of his, to Taser him.

While the incident garnered some negative media coverage, Allen underscores he has never had resentment towards his colleague for using the Taser; what he wanted to see is change in how police address situations involving people who’ve had seizures.

“Their reaction in trying to help me was probably the worst reaction that they could have had,” says Allen. “When I realized that, I thought, OK, something has to be done.”

What Allen is doing is embarking on a journey to educate police about seizure disorders and how to effectively cope with situations involving people who have had seizures.

Encouraging the OPS to mark Purple Day, an international event aimed at raising epilepsy awareness, is a major step in this process.

On March 26, the OPS will, for the first time, acknowledge Purple Day. Allen has played a large part in the OPS’s decision to honour the day through his work advocating on behalf of himself and others affected by seizure disorders.

To acknowledge the day, the OPS will be making an announcement throughout the organization to ask people to wear purple and to explain that police training is being planned so officers have more information when addressing people who have had a seizure.

The information being sent throughout the OPS will also explain what epilepsy is and how one in 100 people have the neurological disorder.

By acknowledging Purple Day, Allen says he hopes people within the OPS will take time to better understand epilepsy and seizures.

“I think it will be the beginning of acknowledging that seizure disorders are probably a little bit more (common) . . . than we believe,” says Allen.

Keep reading the Epilepsy Ontario website to learn about a video Marcel Allen is working on to help train police to effectively work in situations involving people who’ve had seizures.

If you have feedback on this story, please call the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 23, or e-mail deron(at)axiomnews.ca.