How To Measure a GCS

The Glascow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used to assess a patient’s neurological deficit, often used to assess the severity of a potential brain injury in patients who have sustainted some form of head injury. Paramedics often use a GCS to identify how conscious a patient is and the severity of a head injury. However, the GCS tool was initially designed from a hospital Neurologist’s point of view, and specifically targets areas relating to patient recovery post head injury or brain surgery. For paramedics, this tool doesn’t generally signify much more than a basic AVPU score (where a paramedic assess a patient as being A- alert, V – responding to voice, P – responding to pain, and U – for a completely unconscious person. However, most Ambulance Services still use teh GCS in their paramedic patient assessment so you’d better know what it is…

The Glascow Coma Scale assess three areas of patient’s nervous system response in an attempt to clearly document changes to their neurological state. These three areas include: Eye Opening, Verbal Response, and Motor Response. Each category has a certain maximum and minimum score, which are added together to produce a cumulative score ranging from a minimum of GCS of 3 and a maximum GCS of 15.

Eye Opening

4. Spontaneous

3. To Voice

2. To Pain

1. Nil

 Verbal Response

5. Orientated

4. Confused

3. Inappropriate Words 

2. Incomprehensible Sounds

1.Nil

Motor Response

6. Obeys Commands

5. Localises to Pain

4. Withdraws from Pain

3. Flexion to Pain

2. Extension to Pain

1. Nil