In the immediate aftermath of your loved one suffering a traumatic brain injury in Toms River, you may assume that they will require significant around-the-clock care for the rest of their lives. Such knowledge might certainly influence your decision to seek legal action following such an incident. Yet not all TBI’s will leave one needing extensive care. How can you know what your family member or friend’s prognosis may be so soon after their injury.
There may indeed be a way of estimating this, thanks to a clinical test known as the Glasgow Coma Scale. A TBI will affect certain functions whose impairment is immediately noticeable, and such observations might serve as indicators of how extensive an injury is. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the indicators used in this test include how your loved one responds to external stimuli, how well they can verbally communicate, and how visually responsive they are.
Point totals are assigned in each of the three categories (1-4, 1-5 and 1-6 for eye opening, verbal response and motor response, respectively). The totals from each category are then summed to come up with a final score. The score breakdown is as follows:
- 13-15: Mild brain injury
- 9-12: Moderate brain injury
- Less than 8: Severe brain injury
You can likely guess that the long-term prognosis for a severe brain injury is probably more bleak than for a mild one. Yet that is not to say that mild brain injuries cannot cause lingering effects that could require continued recuperative care. Such care can be costly, and assistance in covering such costs may be recovered through legal action. This observation is not meant to serve as legal advice, but rather information to consider when developing your loved one’s long-term care plan.