Yes, we do see those whirlwinds of frantic activity around gunshot wounds, heart attacks, and drug overdoses. But in between come the calmer, less grim interludes. They arrive in the form of familiar characters: the hypochondriac, the overly vigilant parent, and, of course, the fainter. As trivial as it might seem, fainting—what doctors call syncope—is so prevalent that it accounts for 3 percent of ER visits and 6 percent of hospitalizations in the United States. In UCLA’s emergency department, we care for plenty of TV drama–worthy cases, including the victims of earthquakes, multicar crashes, and gang wars. But we also have fainters coming in almost every night—in fact, emergency rooms handle more fainting episodes than they do firearms injuries, suicide attempts, and third-degree burns combined. About a third of all adults have fully fainted at least once in their lives. Nearly all of us have experienced that woozy, prefaint feeling, where all you can do is grope for a nearby chair and hang your head over your knees.
