Jobs & Education0 min ago
12 Hour Faint?
26 Answers
Good Morning,
Is it possible to have a 12 hour faint?
If an ambulance was called because of a 12 hour faint would they take you to hospital?
My thoughts are if you have a 12 hour 'faint' then concussion must be considered especially in someone of the older generation.
A neighbour told me this morning that she fainted, came too 12 hours later and used her 'call' watch to call for help, they sent an ambulance who diagnosed a UTI and said there was no need for a trip to the hospital.
From my experience even a unexplained short faint results in a hospital trip.
Thank you for your time.
Answers
A faint doesn't last 12 hours. 12 your loss of consciousnes
08:56 Mon 19th Aug 2024
A Urine Tract Infection can cause lots of symptoms especially in the elderly. Disorientation and loss of awareness is common. Probably not a "faint" but a high fever. More to the point is the neighbour on antibiotics now, drinking and aware of what's going on. I would advise a doctor visit today as a matter of some urgency and prudence
yes. (BUT) - actually any faint needs an explanation - (oh he does this alot, is OK if they DO)
otherwise call and ambulance - actually call for help first
BUT....
this is not a 12 h faint but a report.... of a faint. She woke and cdnt remember....
and we (AB) are third or fourth party - - ( been around AB a lot).
If a person is unconscious for more than a minute or two it is not a faint.
yup - - and this was not witnessed.
From what I can piece together from her watch data and her and the ambulance crew the following happened.
2am got up to visit bathroom and faints either in the bathroom or on the landing
245pm she 'comes too' and uses her watch to call for help.
315pm the ambulance crew turn up and help her back to bed and test for a UTI and arrange for a delivery of antibiotics, then tell her there is no need for a dr to visit.
I have a conversation with her this morning and she seems lucid and on the ball.
As I said earlier, in my experience when I have fainted I have been carted off to hospital to check me over and have a scan.
So I struggle with the fact that an elderly lady can 'pass out' for 12 hours and no action is taken.
Did you have other symptoms when you fainted? Low blood pressure, vomiting, confusion, high temperature, anything at all?
When my oldster fainted a while back I couldn't get him off the floor so had to call an ambulance. They checked him over, got him up, stayed for a chat and left.
The NHS and ambulance staff are happy to be called out for falls.
I was taken to hospital years ago when I fainted (I was a teenager) because I cracked my head on the pavement and suffered concussion. It's not routine to take people to hospital from a faint. A system is used AVPU. A - Alert, V - voice responsive, P - pain responsive, U - unresponsive. Depends how responsive the person is as to what happens. I would tell her to phone her doctor so that they can decide if they want to investigate further.
A faint doesn't last 12 hours.
12 your loss of consciousness can be a number of other things though including a) mini stroke or TIA
B) normal faint plus head injury caused by inpact (would need to be pretty severe for concussion to cause loss of consciousness for that long)easy to eliminate does any part of head feel sore.
C) silent infarct... Painless heart attack but again can't see someone being unconscious 12 hours, and it would show on ambulance crew ecg.
D). Poor historian or incorrect info being given deliberately... I personally would have my suspicions with the whole story, cannot see any way if someone had been unconscious that long they wouldn't be in hospital.
If a uti caused loss of consciousness you wouldn't come round until it was treated, and that would definitely need intravenous antibiotics.
Thank you for your responses but they don't actually answer my questions.
You get this lot B - it must means that they have not got the anwers they wanted. ( none of us are telepaths) Real answer - you cant tell, we havent even got a proper history
what about a tortured analogy - one that Barry hates so much?
Dr X - 1975 went into his junior hospital job and was a bit wobbly. He reported to a supervising senior ( yes we were supervised then) that he had..... woken up 12 h after falling off a step ladder . And he was sent home to recuperate after this head injury.
Then, on return date, he didnt turn up, so his supervisor went to his house to check, and reported back - - Dr X will not be working at this Hospital again. oo-er doctor !
( stealing fentanyl, injecting himself. Not compatible with any post in the NHS)
well ! I have another one, if you want....
Recent experience of someone with a UTI tells me that they may think extraordinary things are very real indeed when in fact they are not. My suspicion is that she fell at 2pm and called for help at 2.45pm. I do not think that paramedics can diagnose and prescribe either - a GP would need to do that.
If a UTI (and extremely common in the elderly) they can sound extremely lucid and plausible - because to them it was very real indeed. Also, the antibiotics often take a few days to work.
My recently deceased grandmother suffered UTI's in the last months of her life to the extent that she was convinced that there were three boys in her living room. She was otherwise extremely lucid, but to her these three boys were quite real and she would talk completely sensibly about them.
