A Guide On What To Do If You Do Fall

Falling over at any age can be incredibly frightening and has a massive impact on confidence.  It can also cause injuries and hospital admissions.

When you fall it is a shock, a huge shock.  When you are in shock you often won’t behave like you normally would or think clearly.

So, today I will outline the basic steps of what to do if you do fall over.  It is really important for us all to know this because you never know when you are going to fall or have to help someone else who has.

1.  STOP.  Take a moment to breathe and calm yourself.

You will be in a bit of shock.  Don’t hurry to get up.

2.  Establish if you have hurt yourself.

Do a top to toe scan of your body and move each part to check if you have injured anything.  If you feel ok,  carry on to step 3.  If you have hurt yourself go to step 7.

3.  Check out your surroundings.

You may have dropped something when you fell so be aware if there are any potential hazards around you.

4.  When you are ready roll over

on to your hands and knees and crawl to a solid and stable piece of furniture or object like a bed or chair. Don’t rush to get up. Take your time.

5.  Hold onto the furniture with both hands to support you

then use your arms to help push you up so you can stand and sit on the chair.  If you can’t manage this, stop and go to step 8.

6.  Take a pause to rest before carrying on with your day.

If you have any slight concerns you may have hurt yourself phone for some help or book an appointment with your GP.

7.  IF you have hurt yourself,

try to take some big breaths to help calm yourself.

8.  It is important to get help and raise the alarm

so shout out or bang on the floor or wall.  If you have a pendant alarm press it to get help on the way.

9.  If you are able to crawl do so to get to a phone and

call 999 to request an ambulance.

10.  You must keep warm.

If you can reach to a blanket, cushions, dressing gown, coat, newspaper or anything you could put over yourself to act as an insulator, do it.

11.  Try to get as comfy as possible and make sure you change your position every half hour or so.

You will probably get a bit stiff so try hard to do this whilst you wait for help to arrive as it will help prevent you getting pressure sores rom lying in one position and help with the stiffness.

These are the basic things to do. Getting help to you is vital.

Resources:

Personal pendant alarms can literally be a life saving device.  Wearing one either around your neck as a necklace or on your wrist this alarm can be activated if you fall over and get help coming to you fast. They work 24hrs a day but make sure you where your alarm and keep it on you all the time. A personal alarm will give you and your loved ones peace of mind. Here are a few sites to try if you need one.

Call 24

https://consumer.appello.co.uk/call24

SureSafe

https://www.personalalarms.org

Originally posted 10th December 2017