Fainting (a short loss of consciousness caused by a brief reduction of blood flow to the brain)
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Emergent Care - Have you identified one or more of the following symptoms?
- Sudden loss of consciousness
- Loss of consciousness over 2 minutes
- Abnormal bleeding, vomiting blood or black tarry stool
- History of diabetes, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or history of seizures
- Injury to head
- Numbness, tingling, weakness or paralysis of limbs, vision changes, mental changes or difficulty speaking
- Irregular or rapid heart beat, history of heart disease, or chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Fainting and over age 60
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No |
Seek Immediate Medical Attention!
These symptoms can be life-threatening. |
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| Common causes of feeling faint or fainting may include diabetes, hypoglycemia or heart disease, hyperventilation, stress or emotional problems may also cause a feeling of faintness or fainting
Drink plenty of fluids when exposed to the sun for long periods of time |
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Urgent Care - Have you identified one or more of the following symptoms?
- Fainting associated with anxiety or panic attack
- Prolonged exposure to sun, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache or fever
- Fainting occurs with sitting or standing
- More than 1 episode of fainting
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No |
Contact Your Health Care Provider. |
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Self-Management - You can help in the following ways:
- Protect individual from falling, then assist individual to lie flat and raise legs
- Sit down, put head between legs and take deep breaths, if feeling faint
- Rise slowly by sitting at edge of bed up to 1 minute before standing
- Report feeling of faintness if associated with medication
- Do not stop taking medication without contacting your Health Care Provider
- Do not skip meals, maintain adequate fluid intake
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