Gail <gail (at) sql in the wild (dot) co [dot] za> wrote:

> "scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote in message 
> news:48d11c49$1@news.povray.org...
> > In films, I have several times seen people be knocked unconscious, or lost 
> > consciousness for some other reason, only to be brought back round by 
> > another person making them sniff some chemical.  Whatever chemical it is 
> > seems to work almost instantly to make them awake again.
> >
> > Question: Does such a substance exist in real life?  What is it?
> >

> Anything very strongly scented works, though not usually so miraculously. 
> It's mainly for when a person has fainted, rather than beaten unconscious.
> Smelling salts or ammonia-based substances are the ones I've seen used. 

  I have the impression that you see this typical scene only in older
movies, not in newer ones. (Well, seeing someone fainting in newer movies
is quite rare in the first place...)

  I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if modern medicine would
advice against using this trick on someone who is actually unconscious.
There are many things which were typical in older movies which are very
ill-adviced.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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