Quick answer
Brain injury is often called an “invisible disability”. Synapse, Queensland’s brain injury association, says its effects “can be easily ignored or misunderstood by others, even health professionals.” In an emergency, slow processing, word-finding trouble or changed behaviour can be mistaken for something else, and seizures after a brain injury can be subtle. An acquired brain injury medical ID explains what responders are seeing and who to call.
After a brain injury, many people look exactly as they did before. What has changed is on the inside: how quickly they take in information, how easily they find words, how tired they get, how well they manage stress or noise. In everyday life, family and friends learn to adjust. In an emergency, the people helping have never met you — and they will form a picture in seconds.
What is an acquired brain injury?
According to Synapse, acquired brain injury (ABI) generally refers to injuries sustained after birth. These include events that interrupt the blood or oxygen supply to the brain, and traumatic force to the head. The Better Health Channel lists causes including:
- physical injury, such as a blow to the head in a vehicle or sporting accident, a fight or a fall
- stroke
- lack of oxygen (anoxic brain injury), for example after a near drowning
- disease and infection
- alcohol or drugs, which can poison the brain
Synapse reports that approximately 1 in 45 Australian adults has a brain injury, about half of them from traumatic injury.
Acquired brain injury symptoms you cannot see
Effects differ for every person, depending on the cause and the part of the brain affected. Synapse lists effects including:
| Area | Possible effects (Synapse) |
|---|---|
| Thinking | Poor concentration and attention; difficulty problem-solving, organising and planning; lack of insight and poor judgement |
| Physical | Movement disorders and paralysis; dizziness and balance problems; eyesight, hearing and speech problems |
| Energy | Fatigue and sleep disorders |
| Behaviour | Impulsive behaviour or reduced emotional control; lack of initiative and motivation |
The Better Health Channel adds that increased mental and physical fatigue and slower processing of information are common. Put these together in a stressful situation — a car accident, a fall, a crowded emergency department — and a person with an ABI may seem uncooperative, confused or not making sense, when they are doing their best with an injury no one can see.
Brain injury communication: what responders should know
Synapse’s fact sheet on communication disorders after a brain injury describes difficulties that can affect both understanding and speaking:
- Anomia — trouble recalling the names of people and objects, or choosing the wrong word.
- Dysarthria — weak or poorly controlled speech muscles, making words hard to form.
- Apraxia of speech — difficulty saying the intended words consistently.
- Receptive difficulties — needing things repeated, or struggling with fast or complex information.
- Confabulation — filling gaps in memory with made-up stories. Synapse stresses this is not lying: the person believes what they are saying.
Synapse notes that in severe cases people use gestures, written communication or pre-printed cards. Hearing loss can also follow a brain injury. A medical ID works the same way as a pre-printed card: it says what you might not be able to say, and it says it the same way every time.
Helpful lines for your record
“I have a brain injury. Please speak slowly and give me one question at a time.” “My memory is unreliable — please check details with my emergency contact.” “I tire quickly; a quiet space helps me think.” Write what is true for you, in your own words.
If your injury came from a stroke and affects language, our guide to medical ID after a stroke and aphasia goes further.
Seizures after brain injury
Synapse’s epilepsy and seizures fact sheet explains that epilepsy can result from acquiring a brain injury. Epilepsy caused by a brain injury does not usually start with a severe seizure; it may begin with absence seizures — memory loss, attention problems or other subtle symptoms that may not be recognised as a seizure. Among the ways to manage epilepsy, Synapse lists wearing a medical alert bracelet and making sure friends and family know seizure first aid.
If someone with a brain injury has a seizure
- Do not restrain them. Move hard objects away.
- Time the seizure — Synapse notes ambulance officers will want this information.
- When it stops, roll them into the recovery position and check they are breathing.
- If the seizure is severe, call Triple Zero (000); a seizure may indicate a serious medical problem.
Full steps are in our seizure first aid guide and recovery position guide.
Who reads an acquired brain injury medical ID
ANZCOR Guideline 2 includes checking for “physical (eg. alert jewellery) or electronic alert devices (eg. smartphone application) that may be relevant to assessment or management”. For someone with an ABI, the readers include paramedics, emergency staff, police and members of the public — anyone who needs to understand quickly why you are responding the way you are, and who can help.
What an acquired brain injury medical ID should say
On the band
- ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY
- SEIZURES or EPILEPSY, if relevant
- Your membership number, so the full record can be read
In the profile
- The cause and date of your injury, and the effects that matter in an emergency.
- How to communicate with you, in plain sentences.
- Seizure details: what your seizures look like, how long they usually last, and your seizure plan.
- Your medicines, including anti-seizure medicines.
- Other conditions linked to your injury, such as hearing or vision changes, or hormone problems.
- Any implanted device or plate — see what counts as a medical implant or device.
- Your support person, guardian or carer, your GP or rehabilitation team, and emergency contacts.
An invisible injury needs a visible explanation.
A MedibandPlus profile tells responders about your brain injury, how to communicate with you, your seizure plan and who to call, behind a membership number on a band you wear. No app, no login, from $19 a year.
Set up your profilePart of the Mediband family. Designed in Australia since 2004.
For families and carers
Families often become the memory and voice of a person with a brain injury, especially in the first years. Setting up the profile together is a good way to agree what should be shared, and it means the information is available when you are not there. Our carer emergency plan covers what happens if the carer is the one who becomes unwell, and how to set up your emergency contacts explains who to list.
Keeping it current
Effects of a brain injury can change over months and years. Review your profile after rehabilitation milestones, medicine changes, or any new diagnosis, and update how you prefer to be spoken to as your needs change.
FAQs
What is an acquired brain injury?
Synapse describes acquired brain injury as injury to the brain sustained after birth, including events that interrupt blood or oxygen supply to the brain and traumatic force to the head. Causes include accidents, falls, stroke, lack of oxygen, infection and alcohol or drugs.
Why is brain injury called an invisible disability?
Because people can experience significant changes in how they think, feel and relate to others without any outward physical sign. Synapse says the problems can be easily ignored or misunderstood by others, even health professionals.
What are common acquired brain injury symptoms?
Synapse lists poor concentration and attention, difficulty planning and problem-solving, fatigue and sleep problems, dizziness and balance problems, eyesight, hearing and speech problems, and impulsive behaviour or reduced emotional control. Effects differ for every person.
How does brain injury affect communication?
Synapse describes difficulties such as trouble finding words, poorly controlled speech, difficulty understanding fast or complex information, and confabulation, which is not lying. In severe cases people use written communication or pre-printed cards.
Can a brain injury cause seizures?
Yes. Synapse explains that epilepsy can result from a brain injury and may start with subtle absence seizures that are not recognised as seizures. It lists wearing a medical alert bracelet among the ways to manage epilepsy.
What should I do if someone with a brain injury has a seizure?
Do not restrain them, move hard objects away, time the seizure, and roll them into the recovery position once it stops. If the seizure is severe, call Triple Zero (000).
What should an acquired brain injury medical ID say?
On the band: “acquired brain injury”, seizures if relevant, and a number that opens your record. In the record: the cause and effects of your injury, how to communicate with you, your seizure plan, medicines, other conditions, your support person and emergency contacts.
Sources
- Synapse — What is brain injury? — invisible disability, causes, effects and prevalence.
- Synapse — Communication disorders after a brain injury — word-finding, speech and confabulation.
- Synapse — Epilepsy and other seizures — seizures after brain injury and first aid.
- Better Health Channel — Acquired brain injury — causes, fatigue and processing.
- ANZCOR Guideline 2 — Managing an Emergency — checking for alert jewellery and devices.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about recording an acquired brain injury for emergencies, not medical advice. Your seizure plan and medicines come from your own doctors and rehabilitation team. In an emergency, always call Triple Zero (000). For non-urgent health advice, call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 (NURSE-ON-CALL 1300 60 60 24 in Victoria, 13 HEALTH 13 43 25 84 in Queensland).
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