Community Element - First Aid - Head Injuries

            What to look for - Head injuries

Advice taken from St John Ambulance First Aid Tips for Head Injuries

If you think someone has a head injury, there are six key things you should look for:

1. 1. Brief loss of responsiveness
2. 2. Scalp wound
3. 3. Dizziness or nausea
4. 4. Loss of memory of events before or during the injury
5. 5. Headache
6. 6. Confusion

For a severe head injury, you also need to look for:

• reduced level of response
  • loss of responsiveness
  • leakage of blood or watery fluid from the ear or nose
  • unequal pupil size

What you need to do - Head injuries

1. 1. Sit them down and give them something cold to hold against the injury. You can use a cold compress, or a bag of ice or frozen peas wrapped in a cloth.
2. 2. Treat any scalp wounds like a bleed, by applying direct pressure to the wound.
3. 3. Check their level of responsiveness, using the AVPU scale below. Make a note of their reactions, especially any changes to their level of response, to pass on to the ambulance, in case you have to call one.

The AVPU scale – alert, voice, pain, unresponsive

A – Alert: Are they alert? Are their eyes open and do they respond to questions?

V – Voice: Do they respond to voice? Can they answer simple questions and respond to instructions?

P – Pain: If they’re not alert or they’re not responding to your voice - do they respond to pain? Try pinching them - do they move or open their eyes?

U – Unresponsive: Do they respond to questions or a gentle shake?

If they are alert or responsive then they’re responsive and their head injury is probably mild, but you should wait with them until they recover.

If they’re not alert or responsive then they may be partially or fully unresponsive and their head injury could be severe. Call 999/112 for an ambulance and explain their response to the AVPU test.

If they lose responsiveness at any point, open their airway, check their breathing and prepare to treat someone who’s become unresponsive.

While you’re waiting for an ambulance, keep checking their breathing, pulse and any changes in their level of response.