First Aid

Blackouts are common – it is likely that most people will witness a blackout at some time in their life.

If a person becomes unconscious then the first steps to take are those of basic life support:

• The most important initial thing you must do is lie the person down
• If the episode is due to low blood pressure this may be all that is required.
• Check for breathing and a pulse
• If these are not present then CPR should be administered and an ambulance called

Often recognising early warning signs can avoid a blackout, and injury:

Prevention:
People who blackout often display warning signs.
 
They may .

• feel : Dizzy, Hot or Sick
• appear : Sweaty, Pale or Grey
• become : Weak, Confused or Incoherent.

A blackout may be prevented by immediately helping the patient to sit or preferably lie down.Elevating their legs can be helpful in getting more blood to their heart and brain.

Avoiding injury
The most common way that blackouts cause injury is that patients fall heavily or onto a dangerous object.

Injury prevention therefore depends on recognising the warning signs and getting the patient into a position where they cannot fall further i.e. lie them down, preferably in the recovery position.

• Remove any dangerous objects.
  
• Remove any false teeth.
  
• You should not put anything in the patient’s mouth.
  
• It is not necessary to attempt to stop any jerking movements of the arms or legs.

Recovery
You can help the patient to recover by keeping him/her lying down and elevating the legs.

Once the patient has regained normal consciousness they should be offered fluids and kept lying down for at least 30 minutes.

If the person does not begin to regain consciousness within 1 minute and they are not breathing or do not have a pulse then CPR should be performed and an ambulance called.

If the person remains unconscious but is breathing and has a pulse an ambulance should be called and the breathing and pulse monitored until they arrive.

Recording information
Your observations may help medical staff to determine the cause of the blackout and treat it appropriately.
In particular, it is helpful if you note:

1. The patient’s colour,
2. Any warning symptoms
3. What the patient was doing at the time.
4. The duration of unconsciousness and time to normal consciousness
5. Any abnormal movements while the patient was unconscious and how long they lasted.

 

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