The airway nobody sees

It's 2 am at a family wedding. Your cousin Sarah, 24, has drunk too much. You find her in the corridor, slumped against the wall. You shake her shoulder. She mumbles something but doesn't open her eyes.

The person next to you says, "She's fine — just let her sleep it off."

Here's what they don't know.

In the next hour, Sarah's stomach will almost certainly empty itself. If she's flat on her back when it happens, the vomit has nowhere to go. It slides down her windpipe. Her unconscious brain doesn't cough. It doesn't gasp. It doesn't save itself.

Unconscious people die lying on their back — silently — more often than most people realise. Not from the alcohol. From the position.

The recovery position is the simplest, most forgotten piece of first aid there is. You learn it once, in 30 seconds, and it saves lives for the rest of your life. This module is those 30 seconds — plus the one rule that keeps you from making things worse.

If you do only one thing for an unconscious person: turn them onto their side and tilt the head. That alone buys minutes.