When assessing the GCS for a casualty with a cricothyroidotomy, the Verbal section should be annotated as?

When assessing the GCS for a casualty with a cricothyroidotomy, the Verbal section should be annotated as?

• A. 1T
• B. T
• C. 1
• D. NT

Answer: (A)

When a casualty has a cricothyrotomy, you can’t assess verbal response because the airway is secured with a tube. To keep the documentation clear, you assign the Verbal score as 1 (no verbal response) and add a T to show there is a tracheal/ET tube in place. So the Verbal component is recorded as 1T. This communicates both the lack of verbal ability and the presence of an artificial airway, which explains why Verbal cannot be scored normally. In practice, you’d see something like Eye opening value, Verbal value written as 1T, and Motor value, so the total reflects that the Verbal part is limited by the airway tube rather than by cognitive status.

When a casualty has a cricothyrotomy, you can’t assess verbal response because the airway is secured with a tube. To keep the documentation clear, you assign the Verbal score as 1 (no verbal response) and add a T to show there is a tracheal/ET tube in place. So the Verbal component is recorded as 1T. This communicates both the lack of verbal ability and the presence of an artificial airway, which explains why Verbal cannot be scored normally. In practice, you’d see something like Eye opening value, Verbal value written as 1T, and Motor value, so the total reflects that the Verbal part is limited by the airway tube rather than by cognitive status.