Table 1.

Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation scale

Sub-score	Responsiveness	Speech	Facial expression	Eyes
5	Responds readily to name spoken in normal tone	Normal	Normal	Clear, no ptosis
4	Lethargic response to name spoken in normal tone	Mild slowing or thickening	Mild relaxation	Glazed or mild ptosis
3	Responds only after name is spoken loudly and/or repeatedly	Slurring or prominent slowing	Marked relaxation	Glazed and marked ptosis
2	Responds only after mild prodding or shaking	Few recognised words
1	Does not respond to mild prodding or shaking

The final score is the sum of the Responsiveness, Speech, Facial expression, and Eyes component scores. Thus, a 'wide awake' score = 20 and a 'deeply sedated' score = 9.