Meteorologist Reveals Medical Reason Behind On-Air Collapse, Talks About What Happened Moments Before

KCAL-TV meteorologist Alissa Carlson made national headlines over the weekend when she fainted rather dramatically on-air Saturday morning immediately after having been introduced by the broadcast’s anchors.

Thankfully, Carlson is fine, and appeared on “Good Morning America” Tuesday to explain what happened.

“It wasn’t really until 15 minutes prior to the incident that I started to feel a little nausea,” Carlson said. She wrote the discomfort off as likely due to dehydration and decided to push through her morning.

The result of that decision was her collapse on live television:

Carlson told the GMA anchors that doctors had diagnosed her with vasovagal syncope.

She was relieved at the news, she said, because she knew she had a leaky heart valve and was concerned that she had had a heart attack.

“Heart tests prove I’m fine, my heart is great,” Carlson said.

CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook broke that down for viewers: “vagal” refers to the vagus nerve, “vaso” is a reference to blood vessels, and “syncope” simply means a temporary loss of consciousness, usually caused by low blood pressure, according to the