Contrary to common belief, The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is NEVER out-of-stock and the lowest score possible is 3.
- An intubated patient still gets 1 point for verbal meaning they score 3T…there is nothing like a 2T score (at least not in human beings)
- The phrase ‘GCS of 11’ is essentially meaningless, and it is important to break the figure down into its components, such as E3V3M5 = GCS 11.
- The Scale was described in 1974 by Graham Teasdale and Bryan Jennett (Assessment of coma and impaired consciousness. A practical scale. Lancet 1974; 2:81-4.) and is the most reference paper in medical literature
