A patient's level of responsiveness tells much about their condition and the type of treatment you will provide. You should not only evaluate this during your initial assessment, but also throughout patient care. Always be attentive to changes in their awareness level and how they respond to questions. A change in responsiveness may be sudden or gradual and can range from abnormal behavior to confusion to the patient being totally unresponsive. You may also find your patient becoming more responsive with time as in the case of seizures or TIA's.

Head injuries can alter a patient's behavior. This is due to swelling or bleeding within the skull and the extra pressure on the brain. This extra pressure may cause a patient to present with a minor headache, complete unresponsiveness or every possibility in between.

One final factor which impacts the level of responsiveness is poisoning. Accidental poisonings, drug overdose or exposure to noxious chemicals are a few of the main causes for a change in the level of responsiveness. While it would be helpful to know what is causing the change, it is not essential to first aid care. Since this change in responsiveness can be quite unpredictable, your safety is a main concern. Your care priorities do not change; ABC's, 911 and continually monitor changes until help arrives.