Who can I get to carry my mum downstairs?

[NameChangePropertyAdvice]

Mum has Alzheimer's and since falling and breaking her wrist 4 months ago has refused to use the stairs at home so she has been living upstairs. Dad lives with her and is her full time carer, with help from a care agency who come in 4 times a day.

Dad's decided - rightly I think - that they would be better living downstairs where there's a bathroom and a room they could put beds in. Social services might be able to organise mum being carried down the stairs, but it's not a certainty and could take weeks if not months to arrange. Does anybody know whether there's any other way to get mum downstairs, please?

We've already tried St John's Ambulance, Red Cross and the GP surgery. It's logistically complicated because it needs to happen on the same day that her hospital bed is moved downstairs by the company that delivered it, so moving mum needs to be something we can arrange for a specific day. If anybody has experience of this I'd be very grateful to hear from you, thanks!

How large/fragile is she? Do you not have any beefy strong friends?

When my friend's mum had been bedbound for a while our friends 6ft2 weightlifter husband went round and gently baby carried her down.

Goodness, that brought a tear to my eye.

Private ambulance?

If she is more frail, then a private ambulance company. The kind that do repatriations of people injured or sick from abroad. They will also sort out logistics in U.K. usually it is facilitating a change of location (eg a house move) for someone who is bedbound, but I am sure they could do this too. (Source, my old neighbours used to run a small company doing this).

I don't know anybody I could ask to do that. She's not big, but she's easily scared and I think we need somebody with an evac chair.

Fire service?

We had this situation with my grandmother, and used a private ambulance (for which we paid). Otherwise we would have been as stuck as you. They will have the equipment to get her downstairs safely.

Could she not scoot down the stairs on her bottom?

Private ambulance would do it safely but it will cost quite a lot.

Just to repeat, yes a private ambulance service could do this - they have the equipment and experience.

This is so difficult. This time last year my FIL was stuck upstairs after a fall out of bed (he was complaining of back and arm pain and MIL - and the GP over the phone - just dismissed it as muscle pain that needed physio.

No one was listening to me when I tried to tell them that being stuck upstairs in your own home due to loss of mobility was more of an emergency situation. I said he needed an ambulance and A&E but they didn’t want to make a fuss and didn’t think it was an emergency (long story short he had a broken back and arm and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma).

Anyway, that’s just an aside but I do understand the quandary you’re in. Why the NHS or social services can’t step in quickly when elderly people find themselves in these situations (which, IMO, are still medical emergencies in their own way) I do not know.

Is she definitely medically well? Have you tried ringing the GP surgery to explain she’s trapped upstairs and could probably do with being checked over, since she’s spent four months upstairs?

If she's mobile but just scared, you can get her to bum shuffle down with lots of encouragement. Or have one person stand in front walking backwards down the stairs with another person behind her. That often makes people feel secure enough for on trip down. Use a firm but calm voice, take control.

You can't just call the fire service to carry someone down the stairs (unless the house is on fire, obviously)

You shouldn't need to get the bed moved on the same day as long as it is one that has been issued to you through an Occupational Therapist or District Nurse. If that team is still involved ring and explain the situation and they should be able to order a second one on a very temporary basis and then get the upstairs one collected. If they are not, you can self refer to Social Services Occuaptional Therapist for full assessment, or there may be a Community Social Services OT which you probably need another professional to access or maybe the Mental Health Teams will be able to link in for you although it is sometimes difficult for them to access equipment. Either way it sounds like things are changing so OT assessment would be a good idea.

Why is she scared ? Is it because she is afraid of falling and hurting herself again ? Because that might make the situation more volatile for anyone trying to physically carry her if she panics halfway down. I also agree that maybe very slowly bum shuffling down one step at a time, surrounded by people on the stairs above and below to prevent her slipping might be a better, less scary option for an elderly confused lady with a recent fracture

Do you have a local fire station nearby? If you knocked on and had a word with the station manager they may be able to help you?
EDITED TO SAY: Just asked my husband (who is an ex firefighter ) he said if you call the fire brigade and say that you need to get her out to attend hospital urgently or suck like they will turn out

Bunkum

If you know someone over the age of 50, who smokes and either lives alone, has mobility issues or uses medical oxygen, we need your help to identify them.
Ask them to get in touch or if you are a family member or a carer, refer them to us. We will undertake a home fire safety visit where possible. Make the Call, it could save a life.
https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/contact-us/home-fire-safety-visits/#:~:text=If%20you%20know%20someone%20over,fire%20safety%20visit%20where%20possible.
English fire services offer similar. Many also link to local NHS falls teams. Moving her to the ground floor would make it easier to get her out in event of a fire.

Yes, you can. You obviously don't call it in as an emergency, but you can call your local fire brigade and ask if they can help.

@NameChangePropertyAdvice The Patient Transport service where I live do what is called an Upstairs / Downstairs option, it's the non- emergency transport service who take patients to hospital appoints. If you can get hold of who ever does Patient Transport they will be able to tell you if they offer this service.

My Mum had Alzheimers. One day the froze on the top stair. I sat behind her and guided her backwards on to my lap. I then bum shuffled down the stairs slowly with one arm around her. It wasn’t easy as although she was skinny she still felt heavy. Hope you sort it xx

I know someone who was carried up the stairs by the fire brigade to their bed as their equipment had broken down. It was either that or sleep in a chair for days.

A private ambulance service would do this I think. G4S do one and social services should be able to give you some alternatives. They are used to having to carry people downstairs to get out to appointments.

The fire service need to be aware of their situation anyway as they will need to set up a PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan).

Can you ask adult services at your local authority to help? They will have an older people team.

My dad was lifted by the fire brigade, but I think the ambulance called them. I also saw them bring a large deceased neighbour down from an upstairs flat.