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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Emergency Assessment (ABC)

Unconscious

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ʌnˈkɑːnʃəs/adjectiveCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, unconscious means: Not awake and not aware of what is happening, so that the person cannot respond normally to voices or touch.

In Turkish: bilinci kapalı, baygın, bilinçsiz

How it is used

Used by everyone from callers to doctors. A person is found unconscious, knocked unconscious or becomes unconscious. Clinicians usually prefer more precise words such as 'unresponsive', or a GCS score, because 'unconscious' covers many different levels.

Example sentences

  1. There's a man lying unconscious at the bus stop.

  2. He was knocked unconscious by the fall but is talking now.

Common collocations

  • found unconscious
  • knocked unconscious
  • unconscious patient
  • remain unconscious
  • responsiveReacting when someone speaks to or touches you, for example by opening your eyes, moving or answering; the opposite is unresponsive.
  • pass outTo become unconscious for a short time, for example from heat, pain, fear or standing up too quickly; an informal way of saying faint.
  • recovery positionA stable position on the side for an unresponsive person who is breathing normally, which helps keep the airway open and lets fluids drain from the mouth.
  • GCSShort for Glasgow Coma Scale: a score from 3 to 15 for level of consciousness, based on how a patient opens their eyes, speaks and moves.
  • AVPUA quick scale for level of consciousness: the patient is Alert, responds to Voice, responds to Pain, or is Unresponsive.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Emergency Assessment (ABC)

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.