How to give first aid for fainting

Fainting can occur in any person, even absolutely healthy. However, most often a short-term loss of consciousness occurs due to oxygen starvation of the brain, powerful emotional experiences, as a result of heart failure. Regardless of the cause, fainting is scary and dangerous. When before your eyes a person loses control of himself and just falls, it is difficult to maintain composure. In such a situation, you need to pull yourself together, stop panic and begin to act quickly and competently.

Causes of fainting

Loss of consciousness can be triggered by anything. A single collapse can be the result of an emotional shock or an overstrain. But if a person loses consciousness regularly, he must be examined without fail. Among the causes that can cause syncope are the following:

1. Hunger. Often a person faints due to a sharp drop in blood sugar levels. This can happen after a long fast, in the process of being on a strict diet, after serious physical exertion. Sugar decreases below the permissible rate if a person does not eat carbohydrates or their amount is sharply limited. This can be observed when women sit on the so-called protein diets. Before the onset of the “hungry” fainting, the patient breathes more quickly, trembling begins, his hands are shaking, his legs are wadded, his head hurts. There is a feeling of gratuitous anxiety.
2. Low hemoglobin. Loss of consciousness can occur with anemia and severe bleeding. Reducing the number of red blood cells leads to a deterioration in the blood supply to the brain. If you feel dizzy while tilting and abruptly getting out of bed, you should check the blood level for hemoglobin. Before such a swoon, a person becomes pale, cold sweat appears. If loss of consciousness occurs due to low hemoglobin, fainting usually lasts a short time.
3. Lack of air. When in a stuffy, closed room with a large number of people, there is an excess of carbon dioxide, which causes oxygen starvation.Bringing a person out of this state is not difficult - you just need to bring it to fresh air and rub your face with cold water.
4. Overheat. Prolonged exposure to the sun can cause heat stroke. Thermal syncope is characterized by rapid heartbeat, redness of the skin, sweat on the body. Before fainting, a person usually experiences thirst. If the patient has lost consciousness due to overheating, it should be moved to a cool room, splashing cold water on the face.
5. Disorders of the heart. In various heart diseases and low blood pressure, oxygen starvation is often recorded. As a result, and loss of consciousness occurs.
6. Overwork. When a person has been working without sleep and rest for a long time, the first symptoms of approaching fainting begin to visit him - fatigue, pallor, dizziness, redness of the eyes, weak pulse, hand trembling, lowering blood pressure. Moreover, such symptoms may occur from both physical and mental labor. If time does not respond to the signals of the body, there may be a loss of consciousness.If a person fainted from overwork, after regaining consciousness, he needs rest and bed rest.
7. Emotionality There are people who take everything to heart. Any nervous breakdown - fear, fear, pain, joy, or unexpected news can lead to a surge of emotions and cause fainting.
8. Poisoning. Loss of consciousness may occur due to intoxication of the body with drugs, alcohol, various chemical compounds.

In addition, expectant mothers often faint, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. This is due to the woman’s low pressure, hormonal alteration of her body. A pregnant woman already does not feel very well - feels nauseous, constant weakness, dizziness. And if the body is deficient in food or oxygen, it instantly reacts to this fainting state.

Is it possible to feel the approach of fainting

Of course you can. The forerunners of loss of consciousness are tinnitus, black spots before the eyes, cold sweat, freezing of limbs, feeling of stuffiness and lack of air, nausea, weakness.If you feel exactly these symptoms, you must immediately take a comfortable body position that will protect you from injury in the fall. Lie on your back and raise your legs to increase blood supply to the brain. If you are on the street, you need to sit on a stop or a bench and hang your head between your knees. At the same time, undo the top button of the shirt, loosen the tie, belt. When you feel better, you need to drink sweet tea or water.

First Aid for Fainting

What to do if a person lost consciousness right in front of your eyes? Well, if there is a doctor nearby, he will be able to provide emergency assistance. But do not panic, if you have a one-on-one problem. Correct and consistent actions will lead the patient out of a faint.

1. The first thing to do is to check the person's heartbeat. If not, you need to do a heart massage and artificial respiration.
2. If the heartbeat is tapped (and it can be very weak), the unconscious person must be placed with his back on a flat surface. Lift your legs, substituting for them a pillow or any other object.This position ensures maximum blood flow to the brain. Do not lower the patient's head below the level of the body.
3. The patient's head should be turned to the side so that the tongue is not sunk - this can interfere with normal breathing.
4. Open the collar of the victim, remove the tie, ask the onlookers to go away. So you provide the patient with enough oxygen.
5. To bring the patient to his senses, you can give him a smell of ammonia. Put some ammonia on a cotton swab and bring it to your nose. If there is no ammonia on hand, use other liquids with a pungent odor - vinegar, alcohol, gasoline.
6. If the strong smell does not help, you can splash cold water on the person. In no case do not hit him on the cheeks - it is absolutely useless way.
7. After the patient has come to his senses, he should not make sharp movements. You need to take a comfortable posture and drink a glass of hot sweet tea.

Do not lift the patient until he regained consciousness, do not twist and shake him. If a person does not recover within 8-10 minutes, you need to call a doctor.Before the ambulance team arrives, a doctor at the other end of the line may give some advice on how to revive a person.

Preventing fainting

Loads should be moderate, but regular - take a walk in the fresh air with a calm step. This will allow you to normalize blood pressure and saturate the body with oxygen. Give up bad habits, do not neglect weekends and vacations, do not allow overheating, try not to be in cramped and enclosed spaces and the risk of fainting will be minimal.In addition, consult with your doctor about taking nootropics - drugs that improve the nutrition of the brain.

When a person faints before your eyes, it becomes scary. However, everyone should have first-aid skills, even if the person is far from medicine. Often, first aid provides a further condition of the patient, and sometimes saves his life.

Video: first aid for fainting