Guide: Help Elderly Up After a Fall

The easiest and safest way I have found to help an older person up after a fall is to follow the list below:

---

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is the Best Way for Seniors to Get Up From the Floor
• Things to Keep in Mind When Helping Elderly Up From Fall
• What to Do When Elderly Fall
• How Should an Elderly Person Get Up From a Fall
• How to Teach Elderly to Get Up From a Fall
• Getting Up From a Fall: The Sequence

How to Help Elderly Get Up From a Fall

Unfortunately, falling is the single largest cause of injuries and death in the elderly population here in America. About 33% of seniors fall at least once per year. And the result? Over 2 million emergency room visits. Many of these visits will result in hospitalizations, surgeries, and complications that will take and keep people out of their homes and away from their loved ones.

Falls can lead to fractures in the hips, legs, arms, ribs, etc. They are also the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in older adults. “Comorbidities” (health conditions that folks are dealing with in addition to the fall) can also lead to other serious conditions and complications. 

One that is especially serious could be when an older person is taking a blood thinner. A fall with a bump on the head or injury to another part of the body could cause internal bleeding that could make matters much much worse.

Fall prevention is extremely important. But, no one can guarantee that a loved one will never have a fall. This guide is for those people who, despite their best efforts, find that they need to know how to help a loved one get up off the ground after a fall.

What is the Best Way for Seniors to Get Up From the Floor

In many cases after a senior has fallen, they exhaust themselves trying to get up using poor strategies and techniques. This could lead to inconvenient situations like soiling themselves,  injury or exacerbations of pre-existing health conditions. Having a good strategy to get up from a fall can prevent these issues from arising.

This guide on “fall recovery” (what we call it in the business) is going to assume that the person who finds themselves on the floor is not hurt in any way. If there is an injury, do not attempt to help the person up. Call 911 or the paramedics to address this issue and provide the services needed.

This guide also assumes that a family (or formal) caregiver is present and can help the victim. Although the basic technique would be the same for any individual who has fallen, this guide is meant specifically for those caregivers who need to know how to help their loved one get up from the floor after a fall.

Things to Keep in Mind When Helping Elderly Up From Fall

1. Has the fall victim had any major surgeries? A hip or knee replacement may determine what strategy is safe to use. A recent heart surgery may also limit the amount of pressure or force someone is able to place on their arms. If there has been a “posterior approach” hip replacement, remember not to flex the hip past 90 degrees.
2. The victim’s level of strength. If a person is significantly weak or disoriented and cannot support their own weight, the paramedics should be called.
3. Does the patient have any medical precautions? Are there any implanted devices or other considerations that may need to be taken to prevent a worse situation from developing.

What to Do When Elderly Fall

The first thing to do when the elderly fall is for everyone to stay calm. Especially if it’s determined that the senior is not injured. To make that determination, have the senior do what I like to call a “systems check”. 

What I mean by this is to start at their feet and assess for normal movement, pain or possibly lack of sensation. They take each joint through a slight range of motion to determine if everything is still working and if there is any significant pain. If there is lack of sensation anywhere the systems check needs to be stopped and 911 should be called immediately.

Pay close attention to the hip and lower back area. Flexing the hip and bringing the knee toward the chest as well as slightly swinging the leg out to the side is generally a good screen for the integrity of the hip joints.

Gently trying to roll in one direction or the other will generally let you know if there is any back or rib pain.

If all systems check out, then it’s up to you and the victim to decide if you want to proceed.

How Should an Elderly Person Get Up From a Fall

The first thing that a caregiver needs to do is to make the elderly fall victim as comfortable as possible while the caregiver gets the needed equipment that will make getting up from the floor a lot easier.

Recommended equipment:

1. 2 dining type chairs. Now, you don’t have to use dining chairs per se. But, you will need something firm for the care recipient to put their arms and hands on for stability and you will need something that is about the same height as a dining chair for the elder to sit on.
2. A thin pillow or a folded beach towel/bath blanket.

How to Teach Elderly to Get Up From a Fall

The objective of this guide is to help the caregiver assist and talk the care recipient through the process of getting up after falling so that the caregiver can avoid lifting the elderly off the floor. There is less opportunity for injury of either/both the caregiver or recipient when the one who has fallen is able to do most of the work of getting up from the floor.

By understanding the following sequence, it should be easier to teach an older person how they can get up after a fall.

Getting Up From a Fall: The Sequence

Step 1. Systems check for feeling, pain, and proper movement.

Step 2. Make the fall victim comfortable while you gather the above recommended equipment

Step 3. Determine which side is strongest as the elder will roll onto that side to get to hands and knees

Step 4. Have the elder sit on the floor and move into the  “side sit” position resting on the outstretched stronger arm. 

Step 5. Place one chair in front of their upper body so that they are facing the chair.

Step 6. Place the thin pillow or folded towel between their lower knee and the ground

Step 7. Roll forward toward the chair placing their elbow on the seat of the chair and rolling both knees onto the pillow/towel

Step 8. Bring their strongest leg forward placing their foot flat on the floor and rest in this half kneeling position.

Step 9.Place the other chair at the rear of the hip of the forward leg.

Step 10. Instruct the elder that they are going to “push up onto the chair at the rear” using both arms and their strong leg

Step 11. Assist as needed by guiding their hips onto the chair.

Step 12. Have them scoot back and rest.

This technique can be done with only one chair, but it requires more effort and strength on the part of the falling victim, which may be more of a struggle depending on the situation. If 2 pieces of furniture are available ( a chair and sofa or sturdy end table, for instance) it’s easier for the fall victim and easier on the caregiver.