When to Seek Medical Care

Call the doctor about any of the following situations. The doctor will recommend home care, set up an appointment to see the patient, or send the patient to a hospital's emergency department.

• A person struck a hard object with the head (for example: tile floor, ice, bathtub) but did not lose consciousness
  
  
• Mild dizziness or nausea after a head injury
  
  
• Loss of memory of the event (amnesia) for just a few minutes
  
  
• Mild headache with no vision disturbances

Go to an emergency department by ambulance in the following situations. For people with less severe injuries not requiring ambulance transport, a car may be taken to the hospital.

• Severe head trauma, i.e., a fall from more than the height of the person or a hard fall onto a hard surface or object with resulting bleeding or laceration.
  
  
• Any child that loses consciousness as the result of a head injury.
  
  
• Prolonged loss of consciousness (longer than two minutes)
  
  
• Any delayed loss of consciousness (for example, the injured person is knocked out only momentarily, then is awake and talking, then loses consciousness again)
  
  
• Vomiting more than once
  
  
• Confusion that does not go away quickly
  
  
• Extreme drowsiness, weakness, or inability to walk
  
  
• Severe headache
  
  
• Loss of memory of the event (amnesia)
  
  
• Perseverating (saying the same thing over and over)
  
  
• Someone who takes warfarin (Coumadin) for a medical problem suffers and suffers a significant blow to the head.
  
  
• If the person fails to regain consciousness after two minutes, or the injury is very severe even if two minutes have not passed, DO NOT move the person. Prevent movement of the neck, which may cause spinal injuries. If the person needs to vomit, carefully roll the person onto his or her side without turning the head. Call 911 immediately for help.
  

If you are unsure of the severity of the injury, take the person to the emergency department immediately.

Should an injured person be allowed to fall asleep? Many mistakenly believe it is important to keep people, especially children, awake after they have been struck on the head. Children are often more emotionally upset than they are physically injured after a minor fall. They will cry and appear distressed, but as the parent rushes them to the hospital, children may begin to calm down. Because they have expended a lot of physical and emotional energy crying, they will often want to fall asleep.

• You do not need to keep the child awake. In many cases it may be helpful to the emergency doctor to be able to awaken the child who is now more calm and rested and will behave normally. This gives the doctor a better assessment of the severity of the head injury.
  
  
• If, however, a child who was initially normal after a head injury cannot be awakened, or is extremely difficult to awaken, then the child may have a more serious head injury and should be evaluated by a doctor.