First aid considering head injury
Cause of injury, possible complication, management
Tamara Skříšovská
Head Injury2
Learning objectives
̶ Student will learn the basic algorithm for approaching a patient
with a head injury.
̶ Student will learn how to evaluate the patient's state of
consciousness.
Head Injury3
Cause of injury
Falling from a great height
Sport activities
Traffic accident
Violent attack
Head Injury4
Cause of injury- severity
̶ Contusions or injuries to the scalp
̶ Brain concussion
̶ Calvaria and cranial basis fractures
̶ Severe traumatic brain injury (high- energy)
• monotrauma or as a part of polytrauma
• risk of intracranial bleeding ( epidural, subdural)
• internal bleeding does not have accompanied by external
injuries
Head Injury5
When to seek medical help?
Loss of
consciousness
Retrograde
amnesia
Repeating vomiting
Worsening
headaches
Sensory
impairment (visual,
hearing)
Sudden
behavioural change
(aggression,
apathy…)
Bleeding/ liquid
from nose, ears
Seizures
Weakness /
numbness in
extremities
Difficulties walking
or talking
Unequal pupil width
(anisocoria)
Head Injury6
Management
̶ According to severity of the injury
̶ CAVE suspect cervical neck injury
̶ Basal algorithm ABCDE
̶ Evaluation of consciousness using AVPU:
• Alert- fully conscious
• Verbal- reaction on verbal stimuli
• Pain –reaction on painful stimuli
• Unresponsive-does not react to any kind of stimuli
Head Injury7
Management
1. Safety
2. Position (conscious vs. unconscious)
3. Call for help (ZZS)
4. Thermal Comfort
5. Stop bleeding
Head Injury8
Consclusion
̶ Patient´s state can change rapidly (lucid interval), do not leave the
patient alone and have a plan how to react in case of loss of
consciousness or cease of breathing (CPR)
̶ If the person was injured during sport activities, do not let him/ her
continue, unless checked by medical professional
̶ The patient should seek medical help if: over 65 years old, taking
anticoagulant medication, has undergo neurosurgery, alcohol or
drug intoxication involved
Head Injury9
Learning outcomes
̶ Student is able to recognize the symptoms of serious head
injuries.
̶ Student knows when to seek medical help for a head injury.
Head Injury10
Sources
̶ https://www.prpom.cz/urazy-hlavy/
̶ https://mladyzdravotnik.cz/prvni-pomoc/poraneni-hlavy/
̶ https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/HealthAwareness/EducationalContent/
Firstaid/Pages/008.aspx
̶ AUSTIN, Margaret, Rudy CRAWFORD a Vivien J.
ARMSTRONG. První pomoc: autorizovaná příručka organizací St
John Ambulance, St Andrew's First Aid a British Red Cross.
Přeložil Petr STŘÍBRNÝ. V Praze: Slovart, 2015. ISBN
9788073913861.
Simulation Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University
2020