Final answer:
The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to assess consciousness levels after head injury, with the highest score possible being 15, signifying full alertness, and the lowest score being 3, indicating deep coma.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical tool used to assess a person's level of consciousness after a head injury. The scale evaluates three aspects of responsiveness: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each aspect is given a score, and the sum of these scores determines the overall GCS score.
The highest score one can achieve on the Glasgow Coma Scale is 15, indicating that the individual is fully alert and has no signs of a neurological deficit. A score of 15 is broken down as follows: 4 points for spontaneous eye opening, 5 points for orientated verbal response, and 6 points for obeying commands in motor response.
Contrarily, the lowest possible score on the GCS is 3, which indicates deep unconsciousness or coma. This score is composed of 1 point for no eye opening, 1 point for no verbal response, and 1 point for no motor response. Thus, the GCS provides a quick and reliable method for gauging the severity of a brain injury.