as a former paramedic i can tell you that is never a good idea to hit someone in the chest. a person who has fainted should be gently rolled over on their back shaken gently and asked "are you ok? ". if they don't respond tilt their head and use your thumb and forefinger to pull out the chin to open the airway. if you suspect a neck injury do the chin lift only. listen for breathing by putting your ear to their mouth an listening for 10 seconds. if they are breathing have someone call ems and support their head holding their airway open by putting your forefingers on each side of their jaw at the angle near their ears and gently push upward. if they are not breathing then you can check their pulse in the hollow beside their adam's apple then do cpr or rescue breathing. this is why everyone should do a cpr class every couple of years. because more lives are saved with correct cpr than by all the emt's combined.
should you smack or forcefully put a finger in someones chest to wake the up from fainting . my 14 year old grand daughter passed out on my son-in-law and i got in an argument over this. he said this is what paramedics did to him i believe this is to judge the level of consciousness not to wake some one up who has fainted. doing this could actually cause more damage than good. i used a cold compress and supported her until she came around which was just like a couple of minutes. am i on the right track?