For all of the fear you feel when receiving news that a loved one has experienced a serious car accident in Tennessee, you may have just as much joy to hear that they survived. Yet as many of our past clients here at Costner & Greene Attorneys at Law can attest to, surviving an accident may necessarily mean that one is out of the proverbial woods.
One of the common byproducts of a serious accident is a traumatic brain injury. If caretakers suspect your family member or friend suffered one in their car collision, you will no doubt want to know what their long-term prognosis may be.
Determining the extent of a TBI
Is making such a determination possible (specifically in the immediate aftermath of their injury)? The Glasgow Coma Scale makes this possible. This is a clinical observation test that caretakers employ with TBI victims to determine the extent of their injury. Specifically, this test measures your loved one’s eye movement, motor skills and verbal responses following their injuries. Your hope is that their responses in these areas are what one might typically expect.
Clinicians assign a point total in each of the aforementioned areas and then combine those individual values to come up with a final score. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the different score classifications (and the type of injury they indicate) are as follows:
- Mild brain injury: 13-15 points
- Moderate brain injury: 9-12 points
- Severe brain injury: 8 points or below
Preparing for the future
Each respective type of brain injury brings with it certain challenges (from the potential for recovery to dealing with recuperative and/or treatment costs). Knowing what to expect, however, can help you in preparing for their immediate and long-term future.
You can find more information on dealing with serious injuries throughout our site.
