If I witness someone who sustains a blow to the head, how can I best offer help?
Brain injuries are extremely common, but their detection can be very complicated. Even in the case of mild brain injuries, there are more than forty different variables that might indicate trauma — ranging from changes in speech and vision to memory lapses and dizziness.
The best rule of thumb is if you suspect a brain injury has occurred, call for — or seek — immediate medical help. In most cases, emergency responders are trained to detect brain injury. If the injured person insists he is okay, ask him to please wait until medical help arrives because not all brain injuries are immediately apparent and symptoms can emerge hours or even days later.
It's critical to seek medical attention in a hospital or emergency department if any of these symptoms are present:
- Loss of consciousness, even if only briefly
- Any period of amnesia, or loss of memory for the event
- Feeling dazed or confused
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Seizure
- In addition, for children under 2 years of age, any scalp swelling or abnormality in the way they usually behave.
About the author: Michael Paul Mason
Michael Paul Mason is the founding editor of This Land, a monthly magazine based in Tulsa. Mason's first book, Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath, is an exploration into the harsh realities endured by people with brain injury.
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Anonymous replied on Permalink
At one time in the USA (1950s), ADHD was called MBD (Minimal Brain Damage). Today, year 2013, there is a large question as to what percentage of those with ADHD have ADHD due to brain trauma (prior to birth). It's likely that there is no such an animal as mild brain injury. Today, year 2013, with increasing focus on football brain concussions/sports concussions, there is a question as to what percentage of those with ADHD are due to brain concussions. The impacttest (my view) is beginning to ask some of the right questions. X-ref: Paying attention vs inattention, good working memory vs glitchy working memory, etc.