What to Do When Someone Faints: First Aid in the First Minute

Last reviewed: 19 October 2026 · 4 sources (listed at the end). Educational content only. Part of the Jaan Bachayega India series.

The 3 big mistakes, and why they are wrong

1. Water on the face or in the mouth

A person who has fainted is not fully awake, and cannot swallow safely. Water poured into the mouth can go down the wrong way and cause choking. Splashing the face does not bring blood back to the brain. The NHS advice is simple: do not give a person who has fainted anything to eat or drink until they have fully recovered.

2. Sitting them up or making them stand

Fainting happens when blood flow to the brain drops for a short while. Lying flat is what helps it recover. If you pull the person upright, the same thing can happen again, and they can fall and hurt their head. Keep them lying down.

3. Slapping or shaking hard

There is no evidence that slapping a person wakes them up faster, and it can cause injury, especially if they have already hurt their head or neck in the fall. The right way to check is to call their name loudly and tap the shoulder.

What to do, step by step

Step 1: Check the response

Kneel beside them. Call their name loudly and tap the shoulder. If you do not know the name, say “Can you hear me?” Do not shake them.

Step 2: Check the breathing

Look at the chest and watch whether it rises and falls, for up to 10 seconds. This is the most important check. Do it before anything else.

Step 3: Breathing normally? Lay them flat and raise the legs

If they are breathing normally, lay them flat on their back. Raise their legs by resting them on a bag, a cushion or your own lap, so the legs are above the level of the heart. Loosen tight clothing at the neck and waist, and make sure they get fresh air. Ask people in the crowd to step back. Stay with the person.

Step 4: Not awake within 1 minute? Call 108 or 112, and use the recovery position

If the person does not wake up within 1 minute, call 108 or 112 immediately. While you wait, if they are breathing, turn them onto their side in the recovery position: bend the top knee so the body cannot roll forward, tilt the head back slightly so the airway stays open, and check the breathing again every few seconds until help arrives. Do not leave them alone.

Gasping is not breathing

Gasping can look like breathing, which is why it is dangerous. It can happen in the first minutes of cardiac arrest, and it is a sign that the heart may have stopped. The full steps are in our CPR guide. Remember the decision: no breathing, or only gasping, means call 112 and begin CPR.

How to call for help

Dial 112, the national emergency number. In Odisha and many other states, 108 is the free ambulance number. It is not available in every state, so keep 112 in mind everywhere. If you can, put the phone on speaker so your hands stay free. Tell them, in this order:

• Where you are. The area, the nearest landmark, the PIN code or district. A clear location helps the ambulance reach you sooner.
• What happened. “A person has fainted and is not waking up” or “is not breathing.”
• How many people need help, and the person’s approximate age.
• Your phone number. Do not hang up first. Let them end the call.

Send one person to the main road or gate to guide the ambulance. Unlock the gate and keep the path clear. Keep the person’s medicines and old reports ready if they are nearby.

How to get to the hospital

The safest way is the ambulance, because trained staff can look after the person on the way. If the ambulance is delayed or not available, a private vehicle is acceptable only if the person is awake or breathing normally. Lay them down on the back seat, ask someone to sit with them and watch the breathing, and go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department, not the one that is famous but far away. If the breathing stops at any point, stop the vehicle and start CPR. A person who is not breathing should never be put in a car to save time. Call 112 and start CPR where they are. This part of the guide is practical advice, not a quotation from a guideline.

At the hospital, tell the emergency staff: what happened, how long the person was unconscious, whether they hit their head, and which medicines or illnesses they have, such as diabetes, heart disease or blood pressure.

After they wake up

• Keep them lying down for a while. Let them recover fully.
• Help them sit up slowly, and let them sit for a few minutes before anything else.
• Give water only once they are fully alert and can swallow normally.
• Do not let them stand up right away. They may feel dizzy and faint again if they get up too fast.
• Stay with them until they are completely back to normal.

Call the ambulance immediately if there is

• chest pain
• a fast, pounding or irregular heartbeat
• fainting during exercise, or while lying down
• a head injury, or a fall with injury
• a seizure: shaking or jerking
• difficulty speaking or moving
• fainting again
• not being fully recovered after the first minute

Special cases

Pregnant women

Place a pregnant woman on her side rather than flat on her back, especially in the later months of pregnancy (after about 28 weeks), when the weight of the baby can press on blood vessels and make a faint worse.

Suspected head, neck or back injury

If the person fell and may have hurt their head, neck or back, do not move them unless it is necessary, for example if there is fire or traffic. Call 108 or 112 and keep them still.

See a doctor after any faint

Even if the person has fully recovered, they should see a doctor. The NHS says it is probably nothing serious, but it is important to get checked to find out what caused it. Some causes involve the heart, and those cannot be told apart from the outside.

Common causes, briefly

The NHS lists causes such as standing up too quickly, not eating or drinking enough, being too hot, being very upset or in severe pain, and heart problems. In daily life, standing up fast after sitting, dehydration in the heat, standing still for a long time and skipped meals are common situations in which people faint. This is information only. Nobody can tell the cause of one person’s faint by looking at them, and this article does not diagnose anyone.

Share it with your family

Take a screenshot of this box and send it to your family WhatsApp group. It takes ten seconds and the steps are the same for every age.

Disclosure: the product links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, this site may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing linked here treats a faint. Lying flat and getting help does.

This article is health education, not medical advice, and not a diagnosis for any person. It reflects the author’s own views as a nursing and public-health professional and does not represent any employer or institution. For anyone who has fainted, see a qualified doctor.

Related reading

• Seizure first aid: what to do when someone collapses
• Burn First Aid: What to Do, and the 4 Things That Make It Worse

Sources

• NHS (UK) — Fainting, symptoms page. nhs.uk/symptoms/fainting
• American Red Cross — Fainting, first aid. redcross.org, Learn first aid: Fainting
• Government of India — 112 India, Emergency Response Support System. 112.gov.in
• National Health Mission, Odisha — Patient Transport (108 ambulance service). nhmodisha.gov.in