Safe Ways to Help an Elderly Person Who Has Fallen

As the title suggests, it is necessary to consider safety when you are helping an elderly person who has fallen. It is obvious that safety applies to the fragile elderly person as you try to lift them back on their feet or carry them to a chair. Moreover, for the sake of everyone involved, this safety also applies to you. You will be of little assistance to an elderly person who has fallen if you get injured while trying to help them.

Precautionary Statement

When an elderly person has fallen, it is reasonable to assume that they've also sustained some kind of injury. You should always be prepared to ask for professional assistance when an elderly person has fallen and avoid trying to lift or carry them unless they are in immediate danger.

Safe Methods of Lifting

If a fire or some other danger is imminent, you might have no choice but to help a fallen elderly person out of the dangerous area. Further, since you are trying to help this person in ways that will keep you both safe, you should rely on safe methods of lifting. This elderly person may be small, but that doesn't completely remove the risk of injuring your back, for example.

In this situation that calls for physical effort, you should think as a weightlifter does. This means that you should first squat to firmly grasp the person, then let the basic rigidity of your body pull them to a standing position. Remember to lift with your legs while keeping your back straight. If you are going to carry this person to another location, it's also important to turn with your feet instead of twisting with your torso.

Prevention

What article on safe ways to help an elderly person who has fallen would be effective without mentioning the importance of prevention? Wouldn't it be better to help an elderly person by preventing a fall from happening in the first place than to have to call an ambulance after they've broken an arm? This prevention calls for a hands on approach as well as offering useful advice. For example, you can directly remove the clutter on the floor so that the elderly person doesn't trip. You can also advise them to avoid slippery floors and to hold onto the rails when they are climbing staircases.

In sum, there are safe ways to help an elderly person who has fallen. This emphasis on safety applies to the fragile elderly person. Safety also applies to you.