Death can occur within 4 to 6 minutes after going unconscious - Emergency Health Expert

Chief Health Educator from the Saint John’s Ambulance Service Ghana, Madam Carol Kalevor says in emergency cases, death can occur within 4 to 6 minutes after a person goes unconscious.

According to her, the first thing to do when someone goes unconscious is to check their ‘breath sounds’ to see if they are alive.

“You check from the nostrils to see if there is hot air coming from the nostrils. So, if you check and that thing is not there, it means that the person is going unconscious, so you have to do something quickly. And normally what we say is that anytime somebody goes into that condition, within 4 to 6 minutes death can occur so you have to be very fast,” Madam Carol Kalevor noted.


Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show, on November 24, 2021, Madam Carol asserted that in emergencies it is very important to keep the people safe, alive and prevent them from further injuries.

She added that sometimes mistakenly, people mishandle casualties because they do not know what to do.


Madam Carol came in with personnel from the Saint John’s Ambulance Service to demonstrate to viewers what to do in an accident emergency situation to resuscitate a victim.

She also stated that it is very important to put on gloves before attending to a patient who may be unconscious.

“When a person is unconscious, it means that the person’s lungs and heart has stopped working. So, we want to use this cardio-pulmonary resuscitation to bring the person back to life. By doing that, we put our hands on the person’s chest. In the middle of the chest, we press the chest 30 times,” she demonstrated.

The Emergency Health Expert urged the public to visit the Saint. John’s Ambulance Ghana to acquire professional skills to save the lives of family and friends during emergency cases.