Frightening medical situations

Siblings of children with complex health needs may experience situations such as their brother or sister having seizures, losing consciousness, having difficulty breathing or choking on food. For some siblings these things may happen on a frequent basis and may cause huge anxiety and fear.

Things that help

How you react as a parent during these times has a big impact on how a sibling will cope with the situation. If you are able to stay calm and take practical action, this will help a sibling feel less anxious about what is happening.
It helps to have a clear plan of action in place that you have discussed with the sibling – so that they know what the procedure is going to be and what they need to do while this is happening.
Give siblings permission about their level of involvement during this type of situation. If a child feels scared about helping in any way or is worried that they are going to do the wrong thing, then it is better that they are not expected to help. If anything goes wrong children, should not have to bear the weight of that responsibility.
Many siblings have very limited understanding about what is happening and should be given accurate information about the medical situation, and about what you will do to help their brother or sister. If it is a regular event like a seizure, take time to look at books about it with the sibling. Explain why it happens and reassure the sibling that it is not going to happen to them.(assuming that is the case) Keep them updated on a regular basis in particular if there are any changes.
When the situation is under control again ask siblings how they are and if they to talk about the 'event'. Get back into 'normal' family routines as soon as possible to help sibling feel secure and that there is still lots of predictability