What to do when someone passes out in public?

Tell your stories about passing out. You or others. I might lurk .

As I recall – and I will look this up later to check my recollection – the first three things to check for with a person who has passed out and collapsed (that is, fainted or for whatever reason become unconscious) is to check – in this order – Breathing, Bleeding and Broken.

Breathing should be obvious. A person who isn’t breathing will die within a few minutes.

Bleeding is next, because with heavy bleeding a person can also die in short order, not much longer than it would take them to die from lack of oxygen, that is.

Broken bones cause pain, obviously, and can lead to collapse if the bone (or joint) is one that is being used to support a person’s weight. And compound fractures – those where the bone is broken so badly that one or both ends protrude from the skin – obviously carry additional risk from bleeding and infection. But those wounds are not – usually – life-threatening.

So the first thing to do when someone passes out – and again, this is from memory – is to check if they are at all responsive while at the same time checking for breathing. If the person is breathing and not bleeding, whether conscious or not, then in general the best thing to do is to protect them from traffic (foot and vehicle traffic, obviously) and leave them alone. The caveat is that if the place where the victim has collapsed is dangerous because of heat, cold, toxicity, lack of oxygen itself, fire or flood, etc. – or is in the middle of a roadway – then it may be necessary to move the person to a safer area.

In the case of the person you witnessed, where it’s apparently not a life-threatening emergency, then getting the person to a quiet place where he or she can sit and rest, maybe take some water and be comfortable, is best.

First aid ABC’s:

Airway – check to make sure their airway is clear.
Breathing ; check if they are breathing
Circulation – check their pulse.

Depending on how they collapse, get them on their back with their limbs extended. Put something under their head if you have something like a jacket handy.

If they are unconscious, direct someone to call 911 and report an unconscious victim.

@zenvelo Thanks.. She had all three of the ABC’s. She just passed out. The chair helped.

Render assistance. Find out if they are asleep. If not, call for medical assistance. Then start First Aid by first treating for shock. Raise the legs above the heart and cover the victim to keep them warm, even in the summertime. Continue First Aid procedures like @zenvelo noted.

@RedDeerGuy1 You don’t know that until she is checked. Especially her pulse, since she might have had a heart attack.

Someone still needs to call an ambulance.

There is a blind man in my neighborhood who is well recognized, as he ventures down to Starbucks every day. One day he was sitting on the bench outside the store, and collapsed, sliding off the bench. Two of us helped him get comfortable, and then I called 9–1-1. The paramedics came in about a 45 seconds.

They all know him because it turns out he has occasional petit mal seizures.

I think it depends on whether other people more connected to the person are there, and if they seem to be doing something reasonable, or not.

i.e. Relatives, friends, doctors, medics, or in your case, the staff of the store you were in (they’re more connected than you because they’re hosts, but if they seemed to need help or to not be doing what was needed, you could phone for help or whatever else seemed appropriate.)

My personal experience passing out in public: I was at a restaurant with my lady/partner, and got up to go to the bathroom, walked several tables away, and then found myself not managing to keep standing up, and needing to wilt and lie down on the floor. I was out briefly or at least couldn’t get up, and then felt a little better but like I probably shouldn’t try to get up, and there were people looking at me with concern, and the restaurant staff came over, and my partner, and someone ordered an ambulance which showed up quickly and medics put me on a wheeled stretched and drove me to the hospital.

It turns out I had caught something like the “swine flu”, and also hadn’t drunk anything in a few hours, and it snuck up on me – I hadn’t realized I was sick. They did some tests and gave me water and sent me on my way, and then I spent the next several days having awful swine flu symptoms (IIRC there was no medicine for it, and it was contagious – an awful disease).

It could have been me. I faint if I stand still for any length of time. I’m OK walking or sitting but standing in a line is hell on me. It has a physiological explanation. Of course when people pass out others generally don’t know if there has been a stroke, heart event, or what but to help someone who fainted usually means having them lie down and elevate the feet. For me it’s a BP drop so when I’m laid down with feet elevated my BP will come back up. It scares people to death. I’ve only had a few occurrences in public. Generally when I feel it coming on I just sit down on the floor regardless of where I am.

Ah, yes: A-B-C.

I knew there was a mnemonic that I wasn’t getting quite right.

I had fainting spells through my first pregnancy. Once I collapsed in the post office. We sold stuff on eBay at the time so all the staff knew me.

I’m just there trying to buy postage and wham. On the ground. In front of half the town. Tres cool.

Someone in line helped me up, and the gentleman at the counter to me into the postmaster’s office and called my husband to come collect me.

They got extra Christmas cookies that year.

rifle through their pockets looking for valuables

We saw a man lying on a sidewalk passed out. My husband stopped the car and went to check on him. He was drunk and said that he was OK. I personally don’t feel it is OK to do nothing, but in the case you describe, it sounds like the store personnel had it well in hand so you were off the hook. It can be a shock to someone witnessing it.

Aak “Can I help” and if no one answers, to on your way.