Swansea University First Responders
Levels of consciousness
| To assess a patient's level of consciousness you should stimulate him by first talking to him. If there's no response hold each of his shoulders and gently shake him. Ask in a loud voice "Hello. Can you hear me?". Assess the response you get as follows: | |
| A | Alert. The patient is lucid and fully responsive, can answer your questions, can see what you're doing |
| V | Voice. The patient responds to your voice, but may be drowsy, keeps his eyes closed and may not speak coherently |
| P | Pain. The patient is not alert and does not respond to your voice, but a painful stimulus, e.g. shaking the shoulders or possibly pinching an ear lobe, elicits a response |
| U | Unresponsive. The patient is unresponsive to any of the above. He is unconscious |
| If the patient is unconscious check for breathing and life signs. Commence CPR procedure if you can't detect breathing. | |