Simple febrile seizures occur between the ages of three months and six years. Simple febrile seizures require no specific treatment. The child may require cooling measures and should be evaluated in the emergency department to rule out a serious cause such as meningitis. Prolonged seizures will require treatment with diazepam or lorazepam, with particular attention being paid to the possibility of respiratory depression. Patients who have had their first seizure of any type, who have had multiple seizures, or who are pregnant should be transported.
Seizures are a frequent problem confronting maritime medical 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 IV or rectal diazepam or lorezepam. Careful history-taking to look for possible causes of seizures, as well as a detailed description of the event, are invaluable to medical advisory personnel 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.