How To Treat Head Injuries

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Overview

All head injuries are possibly serious because they can harm the brain and make someone lose consciousness. How severe a head injury is, depends on how someone hit their head and how harsh the impact was.

A head injury might cause injury to the brain tissue or to blood vessels contained within the skull, or even crack the skull (known as a skull fracture).

What to look for – Head injuries

All head injuries are possibly serious because they can harm the brain and make someone lose consciousness.
All head injuries are possibly serious because they can harm the brain and make someone lose consciousness.

If you think somebody has a head injury, there are six important signs you should look for:

  1. Short-term loss of consciousness
  2. Scalp wound
  3. Vertigo or nausea
  4. Loss of memory of happenings before or during the injury
  5. Headache
  6. Confusion

For a serious head injury, you also need to search for:

  • Reduced level of reaction
  • Loss of awareness
  • Leakage of blood or watery liquid from the nose or ear
  • Uneven pupil size

First Aid Steps – Head Injuries

  1. Sit them down and offer them something cold to press against the wound. You can use a cold ice pack, or a shopping bag of ice or frozen peas enclosed in a cloth.
  2. Treat any scalp injuries like a bleed, by applying direct force to the injury.
  3. Check their level of awareness, by means of the AVPU scale below. Make a note of their responses, particularly any changes to their level of reaction, to pass on to the ambulance, if for instance you have to phone one.

The AVPU Scale

A – Alert: Is the victim alert? Are their eyes open and do they react to questions?

V – Voice: Do they react to your voice? Can they answer simple questions and react to directions?

P – Pain: If they’re not alert or they’re not reacting to your voice – do they react to pain? Try tapping them on the shoulder.

U – Unresponsive: Do they react to questions or a calm shake or tap on the shoulder?

Related Video On Head Injuries

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