Table 1.

Observer’s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) scale.

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

The final score is the sum of the Responsiveness, Speech, Facial expression, and Eyes component scores. Thus, a ‘wide awake’ score = 5 and a deeply sedated score = 1.