Ventura County, CA. - People who experience a brain injury can be prone to seizures and epilepsy originating from the damaged area. The Brain Injury Center of Ventura County is presenting a free workshop May 24 in Camarillo dealing with strategies to minimize and manage seizures.

Aaron McMurtray, MD and Ph.D. with the Neurology Division of Ventura County Medical Center, will present the program. The workshop will explain how and why head injuries can lead to the development of seizures, what to do when someone has a seizure and when calling 911 becomes necessary (not always). Dr. McMurtray will also discuss how seizures and epilepsy are managed by medications and what side effects and complications might arise.

The class will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the campus of the Camarillo Health Care District. Pre-registration is required by May 23. The workshop is part of a free series being conducted by BIC’s Professional Advisory Council for the benefit of brain injury survivors, their families, caretakers and professionals on assorted levels who deal with individuals affected by brain injury.

Free brain injury identification cards will be distributed at the workshop and are available for anyone in Ventura County who has suffered a brain injury. The cards also contain emergency instructions and have spaces designated for personal emergency contacts and medications necessary in a crisis. A seizure in public is one emergency sometimes experienced by brain injury survivors.

The Brain Injury Center’s free workshop series offers a new educational program on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The classes focus on various medical, emotional, adjustment and social issues encountered by brain injury survivors and their families. Living with a brain injury poses a lifetime of challenges and the series examines how to deal with and overcome these problems to the greatest extent possible.

BIC’s Professional Advisory Council consists of many of Ventura County’s leading doctors, psychologists, educators, financial planners and other experts who deal with brain injury. The workshops are an extension of the BIC’s annual Ventura County Brain Injury Conference, also the brainchild of its Professional Advisory Board.

Future topics will cover setting up conservatorships, stroke prevention and acute stroke treatment, stress management for family caregivers, interpersonal relationships for brain injury survivors, emotional health, behavioral adaptations, academic remediation strategies, socialization skills, substance abuse and financial programs.

Pre-registration for the workshops can be arranged by calling the Brain Injury Center’s office at 805.482.1312. BIC is the non-profit organization that serves Ventura County’s population of people living with a brain injury and their families. Complete information is available on its website -- www.BrainInjuryCenter.org.