Prehospital management of the seizure patient

Seizures are a frequent problem confronting EMS personnel. Most seizures will terminate by themselves in less than five minutes. Careful attention must be paid to the ABCs, including glucose. Seizures lasting more than five minutes should be treated with i.v. diazepam or lorazepam. Careful history-taking to look for possible causes of seizures, as well as a detailed description of the event, are invaluable to ED staff in the evaluation and treatment of a patient with a seizure. Patients with known epilepsy who have had a single typical seizure and are otherwise back to normal do not require transport to the hospital.