Head injuries are one of the most common injuries especially in a sport loving nation like the UK. In Britain alone, approximately 700.000 people arrive at A+E with a head injury, every, single, year! The rate of death for a serious head injury is 1 to every 2000 people!
We design our blog posts for the benefit of those that have attended one of our First Aid courses in London – the most difficult task is to recognise the symptoms timely and correctly and if necessary, to refer the casualty to the A&E department.
You should always call for help, when you suspect serious head injury. Typical symptoms may be as followed:
– unconsciousness (doesn’t matter how long it took)
– memory loss (casualty may not remember how it’s happened and time before an accident)
– nausea or vomiting (may appear couple hours after accident)
– any visual problems (blurred vision or double vision)
– seasures
– bruses around eyes or behind ears (or ear)
– difficulty with co-ordination, dizziness, loss of balance
– additonal injuries (incisions, cut wounds around the head etc.)
– blood or fluid oozing from the nose or ear
– stange behaviour, somnolence, drowsiness
– speech difficulties
– you can see that the skull is visiablly damaged
– If in doubt. Get them to A+E. Don’t take risks with head injuries.
You should call for help if at least on of these symptoms mentioned above appear.
Conscious casualty
Whenever you suspect serious head injuries, you should treat your casualty as he/she has neck injuries. You should minimalise casalties movements – if it is possible casualty shoud stay in that possition how you found him/her.
Uncounsies casualty
If your casualty is breathing, keep monitor his/her life functions. If he/she is not – start CPR.
What you should also remember:
- Never leave your casualty alone after a serious head injury. You should keep an eye on them for the next 48 hours or so. A casualty may start to develop symptoms up to 24 h after an accident!
- Be extremely carefull when someone has been drinking alcohol or used drugs before an accident – it can blure the symtoms (casualty may not feel any pain, may ignore/play down his symptoms or not recognise them, may not follow your commands, refuse minimalise movements and refuse hospital treatment).
- Don’t give your casualty anything to eat or dring (same with painkillers) when you make a decision to take them to nearest accident and emergancy department (or you call for help).
- When you suspect serious head injury NEVER give your casualty an Aspirine!
Further reading:
See Samsung’s new brainBand project which is helping to tackle the damaging force of contact sport. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTy07pkxEO0
