Practical advice on how to respond promptly, ensuring their safety and minimizing potential injuries. By following these recommended actions, you can help mitigate the immediate risks and provide crucial assistance until medical professionals arrive.
- Stay calm and help the person to remain calm by encouraging them to take slow, deep breaths.
- Examine them for injuries like bruises, bleeding, possible sprains and broken bones.
- Ask them if they are experiencing any pain, where it is located and how severe it is.
- If they have a serious injury (e.g., a broken bone, bleeding), then don’t move them. call Emergency Services and keep them warm, comfortable and still as possible until help arrives.
- If they aren’t badly hurt and they want to get up, proceed slowly. Stop at any point if they become stuck, experience pain or become too tired to get all the way up.
- Find two sturdy chairs. Place one next to the senior’s head and the other down by their feet. Keep in mind that they must be capable of doing the physical work required to get up. Your role is to help guide them through these steps and keep them steady, not lift their weight. If they cannot do this, then call to request a lift assist.
- Help them roll over onto their side and assist them in getting onto their hands and knees. If they suffer from sore knees, place a towel beneath them to make this step more comfortable.
- Move the chair closest to their head directly in front of where they are so they can rise up to place their hands evenly on the seat and assume a kneeling position.
- Ask the senior to lean forward on the seat as they bring their strongest leg forward, leading with the knee to place their foot flat on the floor. The senior should look like they are in a kneeling lunge at the end of this step.
- Move the second chair directly behind them, then ask them to use both their arms and legs to push themselves up and sit back into this chair. You can use your hands to keep the senior steady, but keep your back upright and make sure they are doing the physical work to lift themselves.
- Keep the senior seated until you’re confident they can stand and move around.
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