Understanding How the Glasgow Coma Scale Helps to Diagnose TBIs

With any injury, time is of the essence. The same can be said for traumatic brain injuries. This is crucial for proper diagnosis and determining how the victim needs to be medically treated for the injury sustained.

At the site of the accident where the injury occurred, trained individuals are there top provide proper diagnosis of how serious the injury is and what can be done to help. One of the ways to diagnose a TBI is with the Glasgow Coma Scale. Here’s how it works.

How Does the Scale Work?

The Glasgow Coma Scale is designed to determine the overall level of consciousness that a person has and the severity of a traumatic brain injury. It is a reliable method to determine exactly how well the injured individual is responding to certain functions. This scale could be used at the site of a car accident or sports injury, for instance, to determine the severity of the the TBI.

Here is how the scale works:

• The victim’s ability to open their eyes: This is tested and graded on a scale of non-testable to four. Non-testable is rated “NT,” one for no eye-opening ability, two for opening eyes to pressure, three for opening eyes to sound, and four for spontaneous eye opening.
• The victim’s ability to respond verbally: This is tested and graded on a scale of non-testable to five. Similar to eye-opening functions, NT is non-testable, one means there’s no verbal response, two means the victim is making sounds but not saying words, three means the victims is saying words but they’re not coherent, four means they are speaking but confused, and five means orientated verbal responses.
• The victim’s motor response: This is tested and graded on a scale of non-testable to six. NT is non-testable, one references no motor response, two is extension, three is abnormal flexion, four is normal flexion, five is localized motor response, and six is obeying motor response commands.

How Our Team Can Use the Diagnosis to Protect Your Rights

When a traumatic brain injury is caused by someone else’s negligence, it’s important for those harmed to recognize what legal rights they may have to pursue compensation. Our Philadelphia brain injury attorneys at The Beasley Firm is here to help those who have been harmed pursue the compensation and justice they deserve.

Get a free consultation with our firm. Call us today.