My father fell and couldn't get off the floor. My sister couldn't lift him and had to call 911 to help lift him. He had a stroke and can't use his right arm. What advice do you have?
Call 911 & send to ER for X Ray for anything broken & then talk to Social Worker @ hospitable to have him placed in facility. He’s going to have a lot of falls Hugs 🤗
Unless you and he have had some training, call for help. I would not even try to pick Luz up if she went down in the bed room. If she went down in the TV or living area we had a system of using the furniture to help us. Sofas are a great help. I would help her get into position and help her to roll onto the sofa with minimal lifting. Once on the sofa it was a matter of getting her to sit up. No matter where it happened I talked to her constantly, which helped bunches.
I even teased her about going down in the bedroom just to have those big strong young firemen come to the house. That helped also.
The safest way to "lift someone from the floor" is EXACTLY what you did. They are trained to properly lift someone without hurting themselves or the person they are trying to get up off the floor. In most areas if you call 911 or I used the non emergency number if you ask for a "Lift Assist" and there is no transport to the hospital there is no fee. the good thing with calling for the Lift Assist is 1) they realize there is a vulnerable person in the house and they can anticipate other calls. 2) they can evaluate the person for any minor injuries. I would make sure my Husband was comfortable and safe (one time he slid down in his wheelchair and I put pillows under him so he would not slip further) I would call and while I was on the phone asking for the lift assist I would lock up the dogs, turn on the outside light and put a note on the door so the paramedics would know what room we were in, bedroom, living room and the door was unlocked and to come in. I would then go stay with my Husband until the paramedics got there. They were always kind and caring and did an awesome job.
I just googled ‘how to lift someone from the floor’. There are many many sites with many different techniques. It might be worth going down them (or getting your father to do it if he can use the computer), to see if there is anything that might work for you. If his particular issue is with his right arm, it’s just possible that you can find something. The techniques even included dumbell weight lifting exercises for the carer!
My dad has very limited use of one arm. He uses a rollator for every step and has a slow, shuffling gait. When he falls on occasion it usually takes paramedics to pick him up. I can’t do it at all
But to answer your question about getting up.. some of our EMS carry an inflatable chair lifter device. Google ELK or Camel lifter to view. They can be bought for homes but are $$$$ & would need 2 people to use safely - has 1 in video but no way could I get my stroke survivor relative on that alone safely.
Otherwise it's a call to EMS each fall. If you have a non-emergency level where you live, that will be sent.
This causes stress for all involved.
Try what you can to avoid more falls. OT home visit, more care around risky times, ensuring footwear is good.
JoAnn, I was thinking the same thing, I wonder if one of those brand new "up-right" walkers might work for him since he has limited use of one arm from the stroke. The walker is holding the person up, not the person's arms :)
Thank you all. My dad has a home care aid that comes in during the day and still wants to stay home. My sister comes every night to stay. His stroke affected his right arm and his legs are wobbly. He is lucid and no dementia. Hopefully he will use his wheelchair more often. Maybe a strap like suggested would be worth trying.
If this is not a frequent problem, they make straps to help someone get up. Grabbing the shoulder is a bad idea. Both no leverage and might hurt the shoulder. But you can slide the strap under the person’s torso. The straps are made for heavy weight and have convenient places to grab on. The helper (or helper face the person on the ground. Then the helper just leans back while the grounded person tries to push up with legs.
it worked for me in practice but not in real situations, but that was because of other complications. I decided to leave the strap at my parents’ place. They moved it and then could not remember where. I bought another planning to keep it with me. But they continued to deteriorate and had to move. But I’d say it’s worth a try. Don’t recall name but you could find with search engine.
mstrbill is right; how likely is it that dad will fall again? If he's a high fall risk, you're going to need to hire in-home help if you want him to stay at home. That tends to be even more expensive than going to Assisted Living or a Nursing Home. If you think this was an isolated event, then 911 is the answer. What other disabilities does dad have from the stroke? Because your sister is unlikely to be able to handle him alone. Lifting dead weight is impossible, and she can hurt herself badly in the process of trying!
If dad is a 2 person assist, meaning he needs 2 people to help him get up and down, he'll need to go into a Skilled Nursing Facility as most Assisted Living Facilities require a resident need help from ONLY one aide at a time. You can look around, though.....Morningstar Assisted Living does allow a resident to be a 2 person assist, but they will charge nursing home rates if that need exists. Keep in mind that going into residential care does not 'prevent' falls. In fact, my mother has fallen 45x while living in an ALF (and now Memory Care)! Some people are prone to falling a lot while others aren't. But when she falls these days, they have to call the night nurse over from the ALF section to get her up off the floor. 185 lbs of dead weight is a lot! ALFs are not allowed to call 911 for assistance with falls.......they have to figure out how to get the resident up themselves. Some ALFs and most Nursing Homes are allowed to use Hoyer Lifts to help patients who are not very ambulatory.
You'll have to decide what your next steps need to be here, depending on dad's needs and the level of care you feel he requires. And your ability or lack of ability to provide that care for him in home.
Is he likely to fall again? If so, he's going to have to have 2 people who are able to lift him available at all times to help him back up. Is he ready/willing to go to a nursing home? If not, he's either going to have to have more help there with him or sister is going to be calling 911 repeatedly. Give us more information about his state of mind (clear and lucid or demented), his and families desires, and how likely he is to keep falling.
I would not even try to pick Luz up if she went down in the bed room.
If she went down in the TV or living area we had a system of using the furniture to help us. Sofas are a great help. I would help her get into position and help her to roll onto the sofa with minimal lifting. Once on the sofa it was a matter of getting her to sit up.
No matter where it happened I talked to her constantly, which helped bunches.
I even teased her about going down in the bedroom just to have those big strong young firemen come to the house. That helped also.
They are trained to properly lift someone without hurting themselves or the person they are trying to get up off the floor.
In most areas if you call 911 or I used the non emergency number if you ask for a "Lift Assist" and there is no transport to the hospital there is no fee. the good thing with calling for the Lift Assist is 1) they realize there is a vulnerable person in the house and they can anticipate other calls. 2) they can evaluate the person for any minor injuries.
I would make sure my Husband was comfortable and safe (one time he slid down in his wheelchair and I put pillows under him so he would not slip further) I would call and while I was on the phone asking for the lift assist I would lock up the dogs, turn on the outside light and put a note on the door so the paramedics would know what room we were in, bedroom, living room and the door was unlocked and to come in. I would then go stay with my Husband until the paramedics got there.
They were always kind and caring and did an awesome job.
Otherwise it's a call to EMS each fall. If you have a non-emergency level where you live, that will be sent.
This causes stress for all involved.
Try what you can to avoid more falls. OT home visit, more care around risky times, ensuring footwear is good.
If he uses a wheelchair more, he may lose his walking muscles faster. But avoiding falls is a priority.
It's a hard one - Safety vs Independance.
He wants to stay at home. So there's also the balance of want he Wants vs what he Needs. How much help & supervision is needed? Is this sustainable?
it worked for me in practice but not in real situations, but that was because of other complications. I decided to leave the strap at my parents’ place. They moved it and then could not remember where. I bought another planning to keep it with me. But they continued to deteriorate and had to move. But I’d say it’s worth a try. Don’t recall name but you could find with search engine.
If dad is a 2 person assist, meaning he needs 2 people to help him get up and down, he'll need to go into a Skilled Nursing Facility as most Assisted Living Facilities require a resident need help from ONLY one aide at a time. You can look around, though.....Morningstar Assisted Living does allow a resident to be a 2 person assist, but they will charge nursing home rates if that need exists. Keep in mind that going into residential care does not 'prevent' falls. In fact, my mother has fallen 45x while living in an ALF (and now Memory Care)! Some people are prone to falling a lot while others aren't. But when she falls these days, they have to call the night nurse over from the ALF section to get her up off the floor. 185 lbs of dead weight is a lot! ALFs are not allowed to call 911 for assistance with falls.......they have to figure out how to get the resident up themselves. Some ALFs and most Nursing Homes are allowed to use Hoyer Lifts to help patients who are not very ambulatory.
You'll have to decide what your next steps need to be here, depending on dad's needs and the level of care you feel he requires. And your ability or lack of ability to provide that care for him in home.
Best of luck!