Without Feelings: A Checklist of What to Do When You Lose Consciousness

Consciousness is what accompanies us from birth. We react to external stimuli, later we understand who we are and where we are, what is happening around. This is our normal state. However, there are deviations from this norm – they are called violation or loss of consciousness, respectively.

In the first case, consciousness is present, but it does not function properly. Can turn:

The “end point” of impaired consciousness is called a coma – it is actually a loss of consciousness. It can be both short-term and long-term, and in the second case, the intervention of a doctor is absolutely necessary, you yourself are unlikely to face such a human condition, and this puts life threatening. However, let’s proceed in order.

Fainting is a sudden, short-lived loss of consciousness. It usually lasts from a few seconds to several minutes and does not lead to serious consequences. According to statistics, at least once in a lifetime, about 30% of all people fainted, maybe you are one of them too. The loss of consciousness in this case is due to interruptions in the blood supply to the brain, and this can usually be tracked even before the moment of the fall (literally falling – fainting often occurs when a person is standing or walk). Signs of impending fainting:

If at any time in your life you experience something like this, try lying down or at least sitting up and hiding your head in your lap – this should help restore blood flow to the brain. If you are hot, you should move to a cooler place. Same with other people – if you see someone with similar symptoms, perhaps they are already holding their last strength, fresh air and the ability to sit down will help the person recover. In case of fainting, it is also recommended to loosen the belt, unbutton tight clothes, if it is possible to lie the person down, raise the legs so that the blood flow to the brain is faster. Do not let the victim stand up suddenly or stand up yourself if you have passed out, otherwise the loss of consciousness may recur.

A fainting ambulance should be called if:

Besides lack of blood supply to the brain, the list of reasons a person may lose consciousness includes:

On the surface, an unconscious person may appear to be asleep, but usually the place and time do not correspond to the dream (for example, you can see a person supposed to be sleeping on the street on a rainy day). Breathing during loss of consciousness may persist, and this is a good sign, but if a person does not respond to any external stimuli, for example, does not wake up even from very loud sounds, he most likely needs ‘aid.

First aid for loss of consciousness begins with an assessment of the situation. Here is a checklist of what to do first if a person has passed out in front of you or if you find someone already unconscious (you can briefly call this sheet “AABC»: Ask, Airways, Breathing, Circulation:

Ask the victim out loud, put it in order. Evaluate the response: does it at least react in some way?
Check if everything is in order with his respiratory tract: if a person whistles, obviously suffocates, makes strange sounds, perhaps a foreign body has entered. If there is no suspicion of cervical injury or vomiting, gently tilt his head back so that the chin is the highest point of the face (with one hand grasp the forehead, with two fingers of the other under the chin, position the head with the chin and lower jaw up).
Check breathing – lean towards the victim’s face with your cheek and ear, listen, see if the chest rises. Exhalation should be heard or at least felt on the cheek.
Check for a pulse – listen to the heartbeat or assess for the presence of a heartbeat in the carotid artery.

If the victim…

you need to call an ambulance right away. Check for a tag or note on your neck, arms, chest or in your pockets – people with chronic illnesses who are fraught with loss of consciousness can take information about this with them just in case . If you find something like this, you will need to transfer data about it to the emergency dispatcher.

If you are not alone next to the victim, ask someone else to call an ambulance (112, 03, 103 from a mobile phone, depending on the operator), just contact a specific person – c is the crowd effect, if you talk to everyone at once, almost no one will start calling something, everyone will think you are talking to their neighbors. For example, “the person is not breathing, a man in a green jacket, call an ambulance, tell me when you call.” If no one is around and you call each other, speak briefly. “The person is not breathing, the address is such and such” – then follow the instructions of the dispatcher, do not hang up first, perhaps they will give you useful recommendations on what to do in case of loss of consciousness, which you can forget about in an emergency (and it is, without a doubt, her).

If the victim is bleeding, try to stop it. The easiest way to do this is to apply direct pressure to the wound – place a clean cloth over the wound and press down on that spot with your hand, creating a barrier for the flowing blood. You can use a pressure bandage if blood flows from a limb – you need to bend the arm or leg as much as possible. In case of arterial bleeding (pulsating scarlet blood flows very quickly), you need to press the artery to the wound with your finger or apply a tourniquet (if it is a shoulder or thigh) – pull the limb over the wound with a tight tightening bandage.

Other actions depend on whether the person is breathing or not.

If spinal or neck injuries are suspected, try not to move the victim. If possible, fix the head and neck.

If injury is unlikely and the person is ill, the victim should lie on their side with their legs bent at the knees and hips at a right angle.

If there is breathing, but there is no nausea, you should lay the person on his back, raise his legs, wipe his forehead, if possible, with a cool damp cloth, as in fainting, unfasten tight clothing.

Very carefully place the victim on his back on a flat, hard surface, if there is a risk of injury to the neck or spine – fix the neck. Lift his chin to open his airway as much as possible. Kneel beside his torso, place one palm in the middle of his chest, the second on top of the first, interlace your fingers in a tight lock. Fully extend your arms and start rhythmically pressing into the victim’s chest, using the mass of your upper half of your body. The pressure frequency is 100-120 times per minute, the depth is 5-6 cm for an adult.

If you have experience in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, you can also try CPR on the victim. To do this, after 30 clicks, pinch the nose of an unconscious person with two fingers, take a deep breath, tightly cover the victim’s mouth with yours and exhale all the air. You were successful if the person’s chest rose. Breathe the same way. Then start pumping again.

Here is an algorithm for how to perform CPR:

So we figured out what a person should do when they lose consciousness. Now what not to do: