Why is a convulsive seizure that lasts more than five minutes treated as an emergency? · Grey Matter

Most tonic-clonic seizures stop within about two minutes, so one still running at five shows that the mechanisms that normally end a seizure have failed and it is unlikely to stop by itself.

Why is a convulsive seizure that lasts more than five minutes treated as an emergency?

Most tonic-clonic seizures stop within about two minutes, so one still running at five shows that the mechanisms that normally end a seizure have failed and it is unlikely to stop by itself. The international definition of 2015 sets that point, t1, at five minutes for convulsive status epilepticus, and a second point, t2, at 30 minutes, after which lasting consequences such as neuronal death become likely. Treatment starts at t1 because seizures become harder to stop the longer they run.