Fainting

Fainting is a temporary loss of responsiveness due to a drop in blood flow to the brain causing a lack of oxygen.

Fainting usually happens suddenly and the person will wake up within 20 seconds.

Causes

There are many reasons why someone might faint including:

Signs and/or symptoms

A person who is feeling faint may:

Experience a brief loss of responsiveness often causing the person to fall to the ground
Feel dizzy and light-headed
Feel hot or sick
Have cold skin and sweating with a slow pulse
Have changes to their vision – black spots in front of their eyes
Have an impending sense of loss of responsiveness

Treatment

A person who feels faint should:

Lie down with their legs raised or if they cannot do this, sit with their head lowered between their knees
Drink some water
Eat something
Take some deep breaths

If someone is feeling faint a first aider should ensure the casualty is safe and will not fall or injure themselves if they lose responsiveness.

If the person has lost responsiveness you should:

Lay them on their back and raise and support their legs. If someone is pregnant help them to lie down leaning towards their left side
Loosen any tight clothing or jewellery
Give them plenty of fresh air if possible
Reassure them and help them to sit up after a few minutes
If someone cannot be woken up within one minute they should be put into the recovery position and the emergency services called. You should then monitor their airway and response levels

If any of the below are applicable when someone faints the emergency services should be called:

Are not breathing
Cannot be woken up within 1 minute
Have not fully recovered or have difficulty with speech or movement
Have chest pain or a pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat (heart palpitations)
Have seriously hurt themselves
Are shaking or jerking due to a seizure or fit
Fainted while exercising or lying down

If your casualty is not breathing you must commence CPR immediately.