Emergency coping strategies

In the first sixty seconds

1. 1Check immediate physical safety — theirs and yours.
2. 2Slow your own breathing before you speak; a longer out-breath, three times.
3. 3Lower your voice rather than raising it. Escalation is contagious in both directions.
4. 4Say one short sentence: 'I am here. We will sort this.'
5. 5If you might lose control, leave the room for two minutes. Stepping out is safer than staying.

When to call for urgent help

• Chest pain, sudden weakness or facial droop, difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, seizure, unresponsiveness.
• A fall with a head injury, or with any suspicion of a broken hip.
• Sudden confusion — often infection, low sodium, or medication, and it needs same-day assessment.
• Pain that your current plan cannot control.
• Any threat of suicide or of harm to another person.

Afterwards

Write down what happened while it is fresh — time, what you saw, what you did, what was said by whom. It helps the clinicians and it stops the event replaying uncontrolled in your head.

Then tell one person. Debriefing within 24 hours reduces how deeply the event embeds itself.