What to do when somebody faints.

What do you do if you are with your friend and she starts to feel faint? Maybe she tells you, “I’m not feeling so good. I feel dizzy.” Your priority is to keep her safe.

• Help her sit, but do not put her in a chair that has no arms to avoid a fall.
• If you are near a wall and it seems like she is already falling, you can lean her up against the wall and help her slide down.
• If that is not the situation and she is literally about to fall right that moment, you want to wrap your hands around her, go down to your knees together with her and lay her down.
• Always be careful of their head; make sure it doesn’t hit the ground hard.
• Once on the ground, put her in recovery position by turning her onto her left side with her right knee bent to support. This helps any fluid in her mouth to flow out and prevents her from choking.
• If you have access to cold compress or cold cloth, put it on their forehead and behind their neck.
• Once they regain consciousness, you slowly get them up.
• Once they are seated, ensure that they are okay. They may start to feel faint again, if that happens, just gently lay them back down.

If they continue to faint, please call for help, because something more serious could be going on. If they feel better quickly, encourage them to see a doctor to be sure it is not a symptom of a more serious condition.