What Do You Do if Your Senior Falls?
Your senior’s first fall is terrifying, but you need to deal with it in the right way. Here are the steps you need to take.
Stay Calm and Help Her to Stay Calm
Elder Care Laguna Niguel, CA:What Do You Do if Your Senior Falls?
The very first thing to do is to stay as calm as you possibly can. It’s tempting to respond to a senior’s fall with a flurry of activity, but that’s not going to help. Your job is to make sure your senior is okay and that she’s able to stand up again. If she’s not alright, you’ll need to stay calm so that you can get help on the way for her.
Don’t Try to Help Her up Just Yet
Your senior might be wanting to get up immediately, but that can be a mistake. Have her give you a rundown of how she’s feeling and what might be going on. That can take a few minutes for her to get over the immediate shock and do a quick assessment. Take just a minute or two and don’t rush the process.
Figure out if She’s Injured Herself
What you really want to focus on is whether anything hurts or if your senior feels an injury. If she fell in such a way that she tried to catch herself, her wrist or her hand might have gotten injured. She might have also twisted or damaged her knee or ankle and depending on how she landed, her hip or her knee might have taken a beating. If you or your senior feel that anything might be broken before she even gets up, call 911.
Give Her Something Stable to Lean On
If you’ve determined together that your senior is most likely not injured, it might be time to try encouraging her to stand. She might still be feeling shaky from the fall, in which case resting for a few more minutes can help. Move something stable near her, like a solid chair. This is going to give your senior something to lean on while she tries to get up.
Offer Support Only
You might feel as if your job is to help your senior to stand, but that’s not what you need to do. She really needs to get up under her own steam if she’s able to do so. This is important because it’s going to help you to see whether she has an injury you hadn’t spotted yet. Once your senior has gotten up, the next step is to set up an appointment with her doctor.
Keep in mind that once someone falls, they’re twice as likely to fall again. It’s important to give her as many tools as possible to avoid that as you can. One solution to examine is bringing elder care providers into her home. They can help her with tasks that might put her in a position to fall again.
Excerpt: A fall can be incredibly upsetting and damaging for your senior. Here’s what you should do.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Elder Care in Laguna Niguel, CA, please contact the caring staff at Easy Living Home Care today. Providing Non-Medical Home Care Services in Orange County, CA since 2009. Call for Assistance: (949) 282-5017 or (949) 842-6831.
At a very young age it was always Ms. LaPorte’s passion to work with the elderly. She was a caregiver at a nursing home in high school and college and volunteered in senior centers and senior events held by the city in which she grew up. After graduation, Ms. LaPorte became a special education teacher for sixteen years.
She put her teaching career on the sidelines to raise two wonderful children, during which her passion for the elderly inspired her to start Easy Living Home Care in 2009. Ms. Laporte wanted to help people, especially seniors, find competent, qualified, and caring in-home care at reasonable rates.
Ms LaPorte takes an active role in conducting and managing all operations of her business. She is patient, compassionate and listens. Ms. Laporte is always available to her clients and staff.
In her spare time, Lori volunteers for the American Red Cross and Leashes of Love canine rescue organization.
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