UrgentEmergency Guide
Dizziness: Red Flags & Emergency Signs
Dizziness can represent posterior circulation stroke or vertebrobasilar TIA — any dizziness with neurological signs requires immediate CT/MRI assessment.
🚨 Call 999 / 112 Immediately
- ⚠Dizziness with new diplopia, slurred speech, or limb ataxia — posterior circulation stroke (MRI not CT)
- ⚠Dizziness with sudden hearing loss and severe vomiting — vestibular labyrinthine infarct
- ⚠Dizziness with presyncope (feeling of blacking out) and chest pain — cardiac cause
⚡ See a Doctor Today
- •Dizziness at rest (not positional) lasting hours — central rather than peripheral cause
- •Dizziness with new-onset severe headache — vertebrobasilar TIA or hypertensive crisis
- •Dizziness in a diabetic — hypoglycaemia
High-Risk Combinations
When dizziness occurs together with any of these symptoms, urgency increases significantly:
Conditions to Rule Out Urgently
Posterior Circulation Strokeemergency
MRI DWI preferred; NIHSS; thrombolysis
Cardiac Arrhythmiaurgent
12-lead ECG; Holter monitor
Hypoglycaemiaemergency
BG check immediately in any diabetic
Pulmonary Embolismurgent
Tachycardia + breathlessness + recent immobility
Condition Authority Pages
When to Call Emergency Services
- →Dizziness with double vision, arm or leg weakness, or slurred speech
- →Dizziness with collapse or loss of consciousness