It is critically important to report findings of a head injury to medical personnel at the scene, since a lack of rapid and appropriate medical care can worsen the head injury and the eventual outcome. Head trauma can be either blunt or penetrating.
Blunt head trauma is a result of blunt force, acceleration, or deceleration forces such as in an explosion or blast event, motor vehicle crashes or roll-overs, falls or sports injuries. Penetrating trauma is usually from gunshot wounds, stabbings or fragmentation from explosives. Signs and symptoms of a head injury include:
Head injuries must be reported and documented, so any information you can collect about the potential mechanisms of injury or observations after interacting with the casualty is very important.