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69c6 Fainting, Unconsciousness, and Immediate Response | Responding to Fainting or Unconsciousness, and Getting Help When Recovery Is Not Normal


Fainting can be brief, but loss of consciousness also occurs with serious illness or injury. A helper should focus on preventing a fall, checking breathing, keeping the airway as safe as possible, and watching for signs that the person is not recovering normally. Food, drink, and unnecessary movement can create additional risk when someone is not fully alert.
The following topics explain what to do when a person feels faint, how to help them lie down, what to check after unconsciousness, safer positioning for a breathing unconscious person, why nothing should be given by mouth, and when emergency help is needed.

69c6.1 Responding When Someone Feels Faint

When someone says they feel faint, take the warning seriously before they fall. Help them sit or lie down in a safe place away from traffic, heat, machinery, stairs, or other hazards. Loosen unnecessary tight clothing, provide fresh air when practical, and ask briefly about symptoms such as chest pain, breathing difficulty, severe headache, bleeding, or a known medical problem that could make the episode more urgent.
Do not make the person keep standing or walking to "shake it off." If symptoms improve quickly, allow them time before sitting or standing again, because getting up too fast can bring the faint feeling back. If the person becomes unresponsive, check breathing and move to the unconscious-person response. Repeated fainting, fainting during exertion, pregnancy, significant injury, severe symptoms, or slow recovery should prompt medical assessment. Preventing the fall and watching for danger are the immediate priorities. Ask someone nearby to stay available in case the person's condition worsens suddenly.

69c6.2 Helping a Faint Person Lie Down Safely

If a person is faint or has briefly fainted and there is no obvious serious injury preventing movement, helping them lie flat can reduce the chance of another fall and may improve blood flow to the brain. Choose a safe surface and support them as they lower down rather than allowing them to collapse. Keep the area ventilated and protect their privacy while you observe their response.
Do not force the legs up if this causes pain, there may be an injury, or breathing is uncomfortable. If the person is pregnant, has significant breathing difficulty, or has another condition that makes lying flat uncomfortable, use the safest position for their symptoms and seek professional guidance. Once alert, they should rise slowly in stages.
A brief faint can have many causes, so lying down is a protective measure, not a diagnosis. If consciousness does not return promptly and normally, or warning signs are present, call emergency services. Keep checking responsiveness and breathing during the recovery period.

69c6.3 Checking Breathing After Loss of Consciousness

If someone loses consciousness, first make sure the immediate scene is safe, then check whether they respond to voice and gentle stimulation. Open the airway using the method you are trained to use and look, listen, and feel for normal breathing. Occasional gasps are not normal breathing. If breathing is absent or abnormal, call emergency services and begin CPR according to your training or dispatcher instructions.
When normal breathing is present, continue to monitor it because the person's condition can change. Look for major bleeding or another obvious emergency without spending time on a detailed examination. Do not assume the person is simply sleeping, drunk, or "just fainted" when they do not respond normally. An unexplained unconscious person needs urgent assessment. The breathing check guides the next action: normal breathing calls for airway protection and monitoring, while absent or abnormal breathing requires immediate resuscitation support.

69c6.4 Placing a Breathing Unconscious Person in a Safer Position

A person who is unconscious but breathing normally may need a position that helps keep the airway open and allows fluids to drain from the mouth. The recovery position is commonly used when there is no reason to keep the person flat for a suspected spinal or other serious injury. Use the method taught in recognized first-aid training and continue to check breathing after turning them.
If a major trauma suggests neck or back injury, avoid unnecessary movement and follow emergency-dispatcher guidance, but airway and breathing still take priority if they cannot be kept safe otherwise. Pregnant people and others may need positioning adjustments based on comfort and professional advice. Never leave an unconscious person unattended. Keep them warm, watch for vomiting or breathing changes, and be ready to start CPR if normal breathing stops. The position is a way to protect the airway while help is coming, not a treatment for the cause of unconsciousness.

69c6.5 Not Giving Food or Drink to an Unconscious Person

Do not give food, water, tablets, or other substances to a person who is unconscious or not fully alert. They may be unable to swallow safely, and material can enter the airway and cause choking or aspiration. Even after the person wakes, wait until they are clearly alert and the situation has been assessed before offering anything by mouth, especially when serious illness, injury, poisoning, or urgent treatment is possible.
If you suspect low blood sugar or another condition that sometimes uses food or drink as treatment, the rule still changes when the person cannot swallow safely. Call emergency services and follow professional instructions instead of putting sugar, liquids, or medicine into an unconscious person's mouth.
If they have a prescribed emergency treatment designed for someone else to administer, use it only if you are trained or guided to do so. Airway safety comes before trying to correct a guessed cause. Explain this restriction to bystanders so well-meant offers do not create extra risk.

69c6.6 Getting Emergency Help When Consciousness Does Not Return Normally

A person who does not regain consciousness promptly and normally after a faint needs emergency assessment. Call for urgent help if they remain unresponsive, have abnormal breathing, repeated fainting, chest pain, severe headache, seizure, major bleeding, signs of stroke, serious injury, or any other worrying change. If normal breathing stops, begin CPR according to training or dispatcher instructions.
Even when consciousness returns, do not rush the person to stand. Let them recover in a safe position and observe whether they know where they are, can speak normally, and can move without new weakness or severe dizziness. Fainting can have simple causes, but it can also accompany significant heart, neurological, bleeding, metabolic, or other problems that a first aider cannot diagnose. When recovery is incomplete, unusual, or linked to major symptoms, professional evaluation is more important than trying to explain the episode at the scene. Notice any change in alertness, speech, movement, or breathing.