Absence of rescue medication use in a cohort is an access and practice observation.
What the paper found
A study of 147 children with febrile seizures in Ibadan described prehospital interventions. Traditional practices were common, while no child in the sample received rectal diazepam or buccal midazolam at home.
What the evidence cannot establish
The observational study did not randomize rescue treatment or establish why each caregiver lacked or did not use a medicine. It cannot quantify how many injuries a specific rescue program would have prevented.
Implications for forensic review
For a historical case, distinguish availability, caregiver instruction, actual administration and response. A cohort’s absence of use cannot establish that a particular family refused recommended treatment. Nor does the presence of a prescription establish that a usable rescue plan was available during the event.
Source and related reading
Source: PMC4111051, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; case-review implications are an interpretation.
Related: Benzodiazepine Associations in an Overdose Survey Depended on the Time Window Studied.
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