Explain the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and its scoring system, including the components of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response.

2a. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Degrees of Unconsciousness

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a neurological scale used to assess the conscious state of a person. It evaluates three components: Eye Opening, Verbal Response, and Motor Response. The scores for each component are summed to give a total GCS score, ranging from 3 (deep unconsciousness) to 15 (fully conscious).

Here is a table highlighting the features of the Glasgow Coma Scale:

Category	Response	Score
Eye Opening	Spontaneous	4
	To speech	3
	To pain	2
	None	1
Verbal Response	Oriented	5
	Confused	4
	Inappropriate words	3
	Incomprehensible sounds	2
	None	1
Motor Response	Obeys commands	6
	Localizes to pain	5
	Withdraws from pain	4
	Abnormal flexion (decorticate)	3
	Abnormal extension (decerebrate)	2
	None	1

Degrees of Unconsciousness for Mr. Ojo:
Given that Mr. Ojo is described as unconscious and went into shock, his GCS score would indicate a significant impairment of consciousness.

• Severe Head Injury/Coma: A GCS score of $\le 8$ typically indicates a severe head injury or coma.
• Moderate Head Injury: A GCS score of $9-12$ indicates a moderate head injury.
• Minor Head Injury: A GCS score of $13-15$ indicates a minor head injury.

Since Mr. Ojo is unconscious, he falls into the category of severe unconsciousness or coma, meaning his GCS score is likely $\boxed{\text{8 or less}}$.