A woman waiting for the lift at the level four lobby of Alexandra Central Mall in Singapore was hit by a glass door that dislodged by itself.

Disturbing footage of the Feb. 24 evening incident has since been shared online, which showed the extent of the impact as the heavy glass door came loose without warning and hit the woman on the head, before landing on top of her body as she fell to the ground.

The footage showed that the woman might have been knocked out cold temporarily.

She was immediately helped by two men, who tried to support her to a sitting position to check on her condition.

Should victims have been moved?

It was fortunate that the men and other passers-by were around to render assistance to the woman by lifting the heavy glass door off her body.

But it is not advisable to help a victim by getting him or her to sit or stand up immediately, even though it is the instinctive thing to do.

The victim should have been allowed to remain lying down until the Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel arrived at the scene.

Moving victim might cause other injuries

The general rule of thumb is that if the victim is unconscious, he or she should not be moved.

This is to prevent inflicting any further injury to his or her possibly broken body. For example, broken ribs can puncture lungs if the body is lifted or made to lean on one side.

Plus, a person in shock might not be able to respond appropriately to the pain experienced, so it might be difficult to gauge the full extent of any injury sustained.

Move victim only when absolutely necessary

Moreover, moving any victim from where he or she landed should only be done if not moving the victim poses a greater danger. For example, if the victim has fallen onto the train tracks or into the water.

Always check if the victim is conscious

And the other rule of thumb is to check if the victim is conscious first, before attempting to remove him or her from the spot.

If there is no clear immediate danger, the victim should be left to recover from the shock before moving him or her from the ground.

And if the victim is not even able to move by himself or herself without help, it is not advisable for third parties to do so.

Call for an ambulance

In the aftermath of an accident and the victim is down, it is best to call for an ambulance and wait for professional help to arrive.