How is Traumatic Brain Injury Classified?
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used to classify brain injuries. The Glasgow Coma Scale recognizes three levels of severity for traumatic brain injury: mild, moderate and severe. When classifying the severity of a brain injury, medical professionals will look at a person’s eye responses, verbal responses, and motor responses. The lowest score on the GCS is a three, meaning that a person does not open their eyes, makes no sounds, and makes no movements. A person who scores a three on the GCS is in a deep coma. The highest possible score is a 15, which means that a person is functioning normally. Mild traumatic brain injury results from blunt trauma or acceleration or deceleration forces with one or more of the following conditions during a surveillance period: • Transient confusion, disorientation or impaired consciousness • Dysfunction of memory (amnesia) around the time of the injury • Seizures • In children and infants: irritability, lethargy or vomiting following injury • In
