When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, the Glasgow Coma Scale is often used by medical staff to diagnose the symptoms. It is based on a scale of 15 points for categorizing a brain injury patient’s outcome. The test measures verbal and motor responses, as well as eye opening response.
In the verbal response category, the patient’s ability to respond verbally is given a number from one to five. For example, a patient who cannot make a sound is given a one, where a patient is alert and oriented is given a five.
In the motor response category, the patient’s ability to respond using motor skills is given a number from one to six. Six is given for a patient who is able to obey commands fully. One is given for a patient that has no response.
In the eye opening category, a patient’s ability to open his or her eyes is given a number from one to four. Four is given for spontaneous eye opening and no eye opening is given a one.
In order to get a final score, the three values are added together. A mild traumatic brain injury has a score of 13-15. A traumatic brain injury with moderate disability is given a score of nine to 12. A traumatic brain injury with severe disability is given a score of three to eight. A vegetative state is given a score of less than three.
Traumatic brain injuries often result from car accidents. For those who suffer from such an injury due to another person’s negligence or recklessness, compensation can be sought through a civil lawsuit.
Source: traumaticbraininjury.com, “Glasgow Coma Scale,” accessed July 03, 2015
