Falling

[nearlyfullycooked]

Hi
My FIL has started to fall and is unsteady on his feet. Is there someone we can call to help lift him that isn't an ambulance? It seems a waste of resources, but I'm also worried that my DP can't always do it or is going to injure himself. I know we probably need to look at longer term options, but what happens in the meantime? We live very close to him but he lives on his own with no formal care.

If you can't get him off the floor yourself or get him to use a heavy chair to support him to get up, phone an ambulance. You might have to wait a few hours so give him a pillow and wrap him in a duvet so he doesn't get cold.

Contact GP for an occupational therapist/physio referral who should engage social services for a care assessment. They will want to assess why he is falling and perhaps change meds, send him to a falls class, give him a walking aid and a community alarm. They all want individuals to remain independent in their own homes so don't panic that he will be automatically taken into care. Good luck.

He needs a thorough check over. He could be experiencing low blood pressure, TIAs, dehydration or possibly losing balance due to dementia. Can he use a walking aid such as Zimmer frame to keep him more stable when getting around?

Agree with the above. You can get a necklace or wrist band thing that they press if they fall and someone comes out 24/7 to help them. You may be able to get that from the council free, I dont know. You do need to find out why he is falling. Remove loose floor coverings and rugs if those are a problem. Make sure his shoes and slippers fit well. Is he perhaps rushing to the toilet (prostrate issues v common in old chaps) or it could be so something that meds are required to regulate. Or a physio may give him exercises.

You can get a necklace or wrist band thing that they press if they fall and someone comes out 24/7 to help them. You may be able to get that from the council free, I don't know. In my experience, the "someone" who comes out 24/7 is expected to be family. Councils will provide the service at low cost, but, again, it's based on family being available. If no-one from family is available, then they'll call an ambulance.

It's logical in a way - you need training and more than one person to get someone off the floor if they can't help themself, so care agencies won't do it. Therefore it's left to untrained families or ambulance. And it's low priority for ambulance, so the wait may be 8 hours or more.

DP shouldn't be physically lifting him. FIL should be encouraged to get himself into a kneeling all-fours position, then to put his hands on a chair that you put in position in front of him, and to use that to get himself into a standing position while you put another chair behind him so he can sit down.

Thanks. He attends a falls clinic already. He has one of those alarm things but won't wear it. He is waiting to see whether he needs a hip or knee operation. Some days he just feels unsteady. He is quite overweight so that is also an issue. MRI etc hasn't revealed anything. We have very young DC and I'm giving birth by CS this week so cant help with the lifting. I'd also have to drag DCs with me. DP was over there twice for falls yesterday and looked shattered last night. His DF cannot get himself up at all with a chair etc or even onto his elbows or all fours - it's like lifting a dead weight. I don't like the idea of him waiting hours for an ambulance, equally I don't like the strain on my DP. FIL won't be in favour of a home and DP doesn't want him to move in here as we are already pushed for space and FIL is not great around kids. BIL lives just over an hour away but works abroad a lot. We are v close by. Maybe a warden control place is the answer. Difficult.

Simple, he has to wear his alarm. Then when he falls he calls it and someone, not your DP, comes to pick him up. In our area there is a small monthly fee and the team come out to pick as many times as necessary.

One of our elderly relatives was being very selfish and refusing to wear their alarm and instead expecting an elderly partner to pick them up. The partner became seriously injured due to the lifting and only then did it finally sink in that they were the cause - but not until the damage was done.
DP should not be expected to lift someone who if they are obese may well need special lifting equipment or two people lifts.

I think in our area, the alarm links to a number where they call the person to check they're ok. If no answer, they call a relative and if not available they then call an ambulance. The monthly fee with a team that can help pick up after a fall sounds good - is there a company or specific scheme name or is it just a postcode lottery?

I had a feeling you'd say he can't get up with that chair method

If it has to be medically trained people then it's wait for ambulance I think. Unless there's a such a thing as an emergency service for this that you pay for but Ive not come across it.

A guy in my works dad has one of those wristbands you wear and a key safe on the outside of his building opened by code to get his house keys out. I don’t know how much the subscription is but it’s staff from the company that come out if the elderly person presses the button on their wristband/necklace. They have the code to the key safe to retrieve his keys to get in and pick him up. They came out multiple times in one day. No wait for an ambulance.

I fear it's a postcode lottery, they pay the Local Authority £5.52 a week for the alarm. When it was set up there was an option to call relatives if the alarm is triggered but if you tell them from the start that no one can help with pick ups then they will arrange to send a team out if it rings after trying to contact the client by telephone.
I'm sure it saves money in the local area by avoiding wasting ambulance staff. There does seem to be some inter organisation cooperation in this area.

I would check specifically what the local authority community alarm scheme covers. In our case it included coming out, usually in around 20 mins, getting the person back on their feet and alerting family/999 as appropriate.

My dad became very unsteady and had numerous falls. Ambulance were always brilliant about it and told us not to hesitate to use them