Florida State Paramedic Practice Exam

What is the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score when a patient is unconscious and shows no response to verbal or painful stimuli?

1. 1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

The correct answer is: 3

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used to assess a patient's level of consciousness based on their responses in three categories: eye opening, verbal response, and motor response. Each category is scored, and the total GCS score helps to gauge the severity of the patient's condition. In the scenario described, where a patient is unconscious and shows no response to verbal or painful stimuli, it’s essential to analyze the GCS components. The patient’s absence of response indicates that they are not capable of opening their eyes, making no verbal sounds, and not moving their limbs. For eye opening, if there is no response, a score of 1 is given. In the context of verbal response, an unconscious patient would also score 1 for showing no verbal response. Similarly, if the patient does not respond to painful stimuli at all, it scores 1 for motor response. When adding these individual scores together, the total GCS comes from the lowest possible responses across the three categories - resulting in a score of 3. This score reflects a state of deep unresponsiveness or coma, indicating that the patient does not respond to any stimuli, which aligns with the clinical observations presented. Thus, the GCS score of