Comments on: Remembering The Glasgow Coma Score

By: danie

danie — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:11:32 +0000

very interesting article

By: Brooke/ Raleigh, NC

Brooke/ Raleigh, NC — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:11:59 +0000

Suuuuuper helpful explanations, thank you!

By: Duke Powell

Duke Powell — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:53:16 +0000

Excellent post.

First of all, I think ER nurses want GCS documented to establish a baseline. It’s an important part of the “trauma registry” follow up.

Just yesterday I picked up a “one down” drunk 25 yr old patient that had a Glascow of 6 and with very stable vitals and 100% saturation on room air.

If I had not evaluated the GCS closely, I would have undoubtedly made a mistake in my treatments and the patient disposition.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:10:14 +0000

Hey, loved the explanation! That really clears things up a lot. Especially differentiating between “localizes pain” and “withdraws from pain”. Never really understood the dif before.
How I like to look at GCS is to think of your pt. as having a score of 15, and withdraw points as necessary, rather than seeing them as a GCS 3 and trying to add up all the points. Saves brainpower at 3 in the morning.
An instructor also once told me to look at the Eye Response as a GCS equivalent to the AVPU scale. It clears things up a bit – at least in my head.
Cheers,
Kate

By: Karik

Karik — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:47:26 +0000

Hi Steve,

Amazing article as always, although I do have something of a dispute with the example given for motor score 5/4. Even in a fully conscious person, peripheral pain can bring about a peripheral response, and rightly so. If someone jabbed my hand, the most sensible thing to do is to withdraw that hand from the stimulus and I will likely do so without thinking. Central painful stimulus should be the only way to go here, noting that the sternal rub can also bring about a peripheral response, making it effectively useless as well.

By: medic5523

medic5523 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:09:24 +0000

I am just beginning paramedic school, and this web site has help me out alot. Thanks for this site and please, please keep this info. coming. I will continue to view this site on a daily basis throught out my training.

Thanks.

By: LouNZ

LouNZ — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:35:47 +0000

Verbal GCS for trache patient would be V1- Trache. Just explain the reason for the patient being non verbal in your handover to hospital.

By: babyemt

babyemt — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 03:49:17 +0000

What about gcs of a patient with spontaneous eye opening, oriented, obeys motor movement but with trache. The patient can’t speak beacause of trache. What should be the GCS for his verbal?

By: Shelley Thomas

Shelley Thomas — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:43:57 +0000

Hi there,

I stumbled on your site in error this evening and it has been truly enlightening. I have narcolepsy and on occasions experience severe cataplexy attacks which usually result in panic by those around me. Being an unusual condition it can often confuse paramedics, and their actions have certainly confused me at times.! Reading through your site has given me a far better understanding of the actions they take that at times seem cruel – I have had my arm dropped in my face on more than one occasion but effectively paralysed I am unable to alert them to my condition which is really not a cause for concern at all. I guess I am unusual in that my GCS score of 3 or 4 (thanks, I now understand what that means) doesn’t require the urgency of most other patients. Thank you for the education and keep up the good work – it has been a real eye opener.

Shelley, UK.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:03:20 +0000

BTW – in decorticate, the hands move toward the “core”.