What to do if someone has a blackout
About half of all adults in the UK will suffer a transient loss of consciousness — here are the most common reasons why
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Narrated by Dr Mark Porter
Although I have never fainted or “blacked out”, I have looked after hundreds of people who have, and not just patients, but friends, family and strangers. Transient loss of consciousness is a very common problem, affecting about half of all adults in the UK at least once during their lifetime. So if it doesn’t happen to you, it probably will to someone you are with. But would you know what to do?
More to the point, would your doctor know? I would like to reply with a confident yes, but according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), diagnosis of the underlying cause of many blackouts is “often inaccurate, inefficient and delayed”. Or, to put it another way, while any competent first
