Seizure Treatment Guidelines You Should Be Aware Of
Seizure patterns can be of various types. This is a condition where the brain experiences a sudden wave of electrical activity that affects the ways a person behaves and acts. The most common form is known as status epilepticus. This is a situation where there is a continuous seizure activity for thirty minutes or even more. This is a situation of medical emergency and can even cause the death of the person. The American Epilepsy Society reveals that every year at least thirty adults and three children lose their lives due to seizures. Hence, the American Epilepsy Society (AES) has released new seizure treatment guidelines to hospitals, nursing homes, and medical caregivers so that such situations can be handled in an effective manner. AES-certified seizure treatment guidelines These seizure treatment guidelines can be used for adult and pediatric treatment. It provides a chart or a kind of algorithm so that the entire event can be divided into three different and distinct phases and the treatment can be carried out in an effective way for convulsive seizures. Stabilization phase This is the initial phase of the seizure activity. As per the seizure treatment guidelines of AES, this is the time when the first aid is to be extended to the patient who is under the attack of the seizure. This is when you must make an assessment of the situation and must keep a very close monitoring of the patient. Initial therapy phase This is the second phase of the seizure treatment guidelines which continues from the fifth minute and lasts up to twenty minutes of the seizure. This is the time when the caregiver finally decides that the seizure is such that it will require medical intervention. As per the seizure treatment guidelines, the first drug that can be used is a benzodiazepine that can be an IM midazolam, IV diazepam, or an IV lorazepam.