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Mom has fallen 3 times in 2 months. She knows to use her walker at all times and wear skid proof slippers but there are times when she thinks she can just get up and hang pictures on the wall or walk around the house with hardwood floors with only socks. What should I do?

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A fire department cannot be expected to be at the beck and call for families who just want their loved one put back to bed or in their recliner versus situations that require going to the hospital. They have warned people against this, and they have called in APS over this. They are the authorities, after all.
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Mysteryshopper Jan 2022
Yes. I know of a situation in my area where wife repeatedly had to call for lift assist for her husband and eventually received a warning and also a recommendation to put husband in facility care. The warning pertained to her calling rescue squad to the same address for the same thing within x number of days/weeks/months. I think, in the end, family and authorities did agree that it was an excessive number of calls and husband was placed. I'm sure there was a lot more to his condition that was being managed behind closed doors. Anyway, yes, the paramedics eventually object to being called to the same home for the same thing. The lady I cared for called paramedics herself because she could not get her legs up and onto the bed to go to sleep. By the time they got there (lights and sirens going, I'm sure), she was in bed and turned them away. She felt she could and should call them for anything she wanted. Her son tried to tell her that "what if someone else's house is burning and they are over here helping you with your legs?" The lady looked at her son and shrugged. There's got to be some kind of balance in place. Thank you for mentioning this.
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Omg! You said it so perfectly! I’ve been telling them that for these past 2 years. And my mom is vaccinated and boosted. Keeping her from getting treatment out of fear from this darn virus is what’s making me and my daughter so infuriated! Thank you for saying this so I know someone agrees with me. It makes me sick to my stomach seeing my moms face all swollen and bruised and just sitting at home without getting checked out! I appreciate your comment so much!!
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lealonnie1 Jan 2022
Fear is the real killer here. Tell your sister to turn off the TV set & use the common sense she had before this pandemic set in. If she would have called 911 for her mother PRIOR to Covid, then she should call 911 NOW for her mother, fgs! Best of luck; it's hard to sit back & watch others make poor decisions on behalf of our loved ones, I know.
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Having a caregiver close by will not STOP all falls. But it may prevent quite a few. Caregiver will able to use verbal prompts to remember the walker, steady her on occasion. But won't be there 24/7. Also as stated, falls happen so fast, they happen with someone right there too.

Sometimes it can be physical issues, loss of muscle tone, scissoring the legs, PD shuffle etc. Sometimes it is due to changes to the balance control centre of the brain.
Maybe it will help to have a Physio assess her walking? Or maybe not..

My relative has fallen SO many times. Uses furniture around home... sigh.. has lack of insight + v poor balance.

Physio review was useful, has set an exercise program to maintain strength but cannot cure. Advised to stay on feet as long as possible - use it or lose it approach. Then it will be wheelchair fulltime & move into care.

Where I live there can be non-emergency ambo for falls (some places uses fire dept). But head strike usually requires ER.
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SavingMom2014 Jan 2022
Thank you! That review would be really helpful. I’m going to call her dr tomorrow
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If she hit her head/face hard enough to cause that much damage, 911 should have been called. What if she had suffered a brain bleed? She would have needed a brain scan to make sure. Is she on blood thinners or any type of supplements that would thin the blood? Something you and sister need to discuss and with her dr. Show him the pics!
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By virtue of the fact your mother has dementia, nothing will stop her from 'thinking she can get up and hang pictures on the wall or walk around on hardwood floors with only socks." That means she's going to continue to fall, with or without caregivers around, because nobody can prevent it. My mother has fallen 93x while living in Assisted Living and now Memory Care. She's fallen 53x in MC alone just since 6/19. She has every alarm known to man installed on her bed and her chairs, but by the time they go off, she's already on the floor. She thinks she can walk, and so she gets up when she has no ability to walk. Prior to dementia getting very bad, she was very stubborn and had 'no need' to follow directions or take precautions, so she fell continuously. She has had no injuries to speak of other than black & blues due to 93 falls, either. Her body is going to be studied by scientists after she passes (at 113) to see if it's made of super-ball rubber. The staff picks her up when she falls b/c they have a 6'5" male nurse who's able to do so, and if he cannot, then 3 or 4 staff gather to do it. Whatever YOU do, don't pick your mother up YOURSELF. Call 911.

Good luck
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Like funkygrandma59 wrote, all my LO's falls have been in the presence of family caregivers.

She is my 99-yr old aunt with mod/adv dementia. She often forgets that she has no real balance, leg strength or mobility and will attempt to get up and out of a chair on her own (which means she will just keel over). We have an alarm system where the sound unit clips to the recliner above her head. There's a lightweight chord that clips to her shirt on one end and attaches to a small magnet that rests on the alarm unit. When she moves to get up the string pulls the magnet off its spot and the alarm goes off. That's as much as we've been able to do.
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SavingMom2014 Jan 2022
Thank you I’ll see if I can get an alarm like that! That would definitely help knowing if she was trying to get up. My next thought was to have her house carpeted wall to wall so maybe it would soften her injuries.
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The short answer to your question is no, hiring a full time caregiver will not keep your mom from falling.
I was my husbands full time caregiver for many years and when he first started showing signs of vascular dementia and was falling a lot, I was often in the same room he was in and down he would go. And I was always in the house with him when he would fall. There was a two month period where I had to call 911 nine times to have the EMT's come get him off the floor for me.
And I know that there are many on this forum whose loved one has fallen numerous times while in a care facility as well, so unfortunately there are no easy solutions here.
You must do whatever you believe is best for your mom and her safety. Just make sure that if she does fall that you don't hurt yourself trying to pick her up, and instead call 911 and let the EMT's handle it. In most places they do not charge for this service unless they have to transport her to the hospital.
I wish you the best in getting things figured out.
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SavingMom2014 Jan 2022
Thank you so much! I wasn’t sure about the ambulance coming just to pick her up. Her recent fall was really bad and my sister was there but didn’t call the ambulance bc she said with covid she didn’t want her in a waiting room. Her face/head hit the hardwood floor ans her eye is swollen and she got a substantial cut on the back of her hand. My sister said she needed stitches but used steri strips and bandages bc she didn’t want her in the ER. I was devastated when I saw the picture of her that night and yesterday.
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