I've fallen and I can't get up!

[crazyme5kids]

Remember the ad for that thing you wear around your neck, the one that you press a button and someone responds to it being activated? Well thank goodness my grandmother wears one! She fell yesterday in the bathroom, hit her head (we still don't know if she hit on something or just the floor) and got a pretty nasty cut. She pressed the button and I got a phone call from the company saying she had fallen, and could I go check on her. I got there to find her flat on her back her head in a pool of blood. Luckily she did not break anything and only needed stitches.
Please encourage people that have medical conditions or the elderly to get one. Had she not have had one she could have been lying there for hours until someone got home.

 

[Otimon]

Hope your grandmother has a speedy recovery. Your advice is well given.

 

[lisajl]

Glad your grandmother is alright!

Wow..that could have been really bad, had she not had that button!

My mom lives in an apt. building that has an emergency cord in each apt. There is a cord in the bathroom and one in her bedroom.

Thank goodness for technology!

 

[nativetxn]

I'm glad it wasn't a serious injury and that your grandmother is alright. This is excellent advice.

 

[Robinrs]

Thank God she's alright, Margie!

My Dad once fell and was on the kitchen floor for 4 hours before anyone got up and found him! If he lived alone I would've gotten him that alert button in a second but he refused to get one... pride goeth before a fall!

Falls with the elderly can be deadly. I really hate that commercial because people laugh at it and it's a very serious thing.

My neighbor takes care of her 95yo mother and she calls me and Michael now instead of 911 when she falls. My son is a very strong boy and he can get her up in a second. He always asks me "what if they didn't have us?" The daughter is 72 and on a walker. That alert button would be great for them.

A great post with great advice.

 

[Nutsy]

That sounds like a great idea.............Must see if we have them over here...........

Glad your Grandmother is ok & from the sound of it, her button saved her life....

 

[mamajoan]

These devices are a boon to those in need. Hope your grandma is feeling better soon.

 

[cgcw]

When my mom had a stroke, she woke up at 6 a.m. and my brother found her at 10:30 laying on the bathroom floor. In the meantime, she just passed the time having a cigarette every once in a while (fiesty little lady). She doesn't smoke anymore - good thing. She doesn't live by herself anymore either. Hopefully she'll never be in that situation. It's a good thing you were called.

 

[crazyme5kids]

My grandmother lives with my parents, but they are getting up there in age (grandma is 96), so trying to lift her is now not an easy deal for them. A word of advice for those of you in this situation (I know I am filled with advice tonight LOL), do not try to move someone with an injury! That was one of the first things the 911 dispatcher said to me. It was one of the first things I was going to do until I saw all the blood.
Let me tell you a little about how this thing works. When the medical alert company gets the signal, they will call the house to see if someone else is home. If there is no answer they will place calls to the other numbers they are provided. If they don't get a response from the person that has activated the alarm (they talk to them) they skip all the calls and call 911. They could hear my grandmother, although they could not make out what she was saying. As luck would have it my mother was over here at my house, so we just hopped in our cars. They did a follow up call to a neighbor of my mothers asking her to go check and make sure that the situation was being taken care of. I am very impressed with this thing and the system they have in place, and have a new found respect for that commercial.

 

[mhopset]

Glad she is ok. Falling is my biggest fear