Advice for Young People
School, STARS Alert Cards & Driving
Starting Secondary School
Who to tell
It is important that you decide for yourself who you want to inform, because, after all it’s you that has to go to school/college every day. You must feel comfortable with your choice. Having said that, all teachers and staff should definitely be informed; firstly so that they know how to help you if you have blackout wherever you are on-site and secondly so that they do not mistake symptoms such as tiredness- which often follows a syncopal episode - for you having had a late night!
Friends can also be a fantastic source of help and support, so even if you don’t want all your peers to learn about your condition, give your friends a lesson so that they can help you out if necessary!
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What to tell
Explaining to someone else about a medical condition is a difficult thing to do. Syncope and Reflex Anoxic Seizures are very complicated conditions for people who don’t know anything about them to understand. You could tell people to look at the STARS education website www.education.stars.org.uk - there are teaching resources and information which will help to explain a lot about the condition in general.
It is very important that you and your parents hold a meeting with the head teacher, to explain everything to them about what you need and to make sure that all teachers and staff know, just in case you need their help at some stage!
STARS Alert Cards
STARS offers Alert Cards which are the size of a credit card which provide key information on what to do in the event of an RAS or Syncope attack.
These are perfect for school and can be passed discreetly to friends and teachers at school. The cards cost £1 for a pack of twenty and can be ordered from the STARS office. Either send a cheque, postal order for £1 or tape a £1 to a piece of paper and place in an envelop with your name and full address and send to STARS indicating whether you would like syncope or RAS Alert Cards.
Please send requests to STARS for Alert cards to the following address:
STARS, PO Box 175, Stratford Upon Avon, CV37 8YD
Starting to Drive
Cases are assessed individually for driving. For information on driving with syncope or RAS please consult the DVLA website and view ‘Medical Standards for Fitness to Drive’ document and see ‘Neurological Disorders – Loss of Consciousness section'.
For information on driving with syncope please visit the DVLA website: www.dvla.gov.uk