This just occurred to me today after I tripped and fell while pushing my hubby in his wheelchair outside. Fortunately, I wasn't too badly hurt, but it got me thinking. He couldn't get up by himself to phone for help.....what do people do in these situations? TIA
A bigger question is-------how are you doing overall?
Are you thinking you are coming up against the wall of your own limitations at all?
Or is this just this one very specific question.
My best to you. I worry you may injure yourself taxing your own strength at this point.
1. Give your trusted neighbors(s) a key, in case they need to let in the police or ambulance;
2. Buy a wristband for you and your husband that allows you to inscribe what to do in cases of emergency. The one I buy is called “Road ID.” It is just a simple plastic band with a metal plate that allows 5 lines of inscription. On mine, I have:
Line 1. my name and birth date
2. Address
3. Emergency contact 1
4. Emergency contact 2
5. Condition of my husband (“Husband has dementia.”)
This way, if I am in a car accident and unconscious, authorities know who to call and that they should look into my husband’s condition at home too.
On my husband’s band, it says pretty much the same thing, except that it also say, “I have dementia.”
Not foolproof, but does its job cheaply.
Another option is a very loud whistle, but it needs to be really loud.
I fell 3x one day this week, and the issue of being stranded and w/o help became very real. Getting a medic alert is now high on my priority.
I recently had a mild stroke and have a heart procedure scheduled.
This gives me comfort without holding a phone all the time.
At any time that either of us has need of anyone or anything, we just use the phones. We have become so used to this that we even use them inside the house. If I am on my main floor office and my husband is in his top floor office instead of going to the stairway and yelling up a question, I just pick up the phone and call him. And vice versa. Of course, I am also aware that I have the phone in my pocket when I take the trash down the driveway to the street at the bottom of the hill. If I were to slip and fall, I would call my husband or 911, whichever seemed right for the situation.
Our learned habits of relying on the cell phones after 50 years of nothing but landlines has been a great relief to our sons and to each other as well as a comfort to us. Neither of us is ever alone, we have our phones. One time one of my sisters got home late at night, alone. She had one of those senseless fear attacks that most of us get once in a while confronting an empty and dark house. She called me and told me that she was frightened. We agreed that she would go inside, check out the house, and call me back. If she did not call back, I would call her local police with the information. Of course, she was fine, but it was a really good thing that we both knew that we could repeat this scenario any time one of us felt frightened. Both of us always have our phones.
I would suggest that you and your husband each get phones. You can get really inexpensive phones and cheap plans if you do not think you would use them much, but you might be surprised at how easily you may come to depend on that phone for a sense of safety and greater independence.
I recently saw a commercial for an Apple Watch and if there is a fall and no response it will summon EMS with the GPS location.
Does he have a phone that he can use? You do not even have to dial a number on a Cell phone for an Emergency Call most will show a bar or icon for an emergency call.
You do not even need to have an active account to use a Cell phone for an emergency call, as long as the phone is charged an emergency call is possible.
If inside & can't get up, you scoot along until you can reach a chair to either use to pull yourself up or pull things down to. Pull a corded phone down to you. Or find objects to throw at a mobile/cell phone to knock it down to your level.
These are from lived experiences elderly fallers have told me.
If you have a portable phone, you can ensure you alwears have it on you. Eg Wear an apron with your phone in the pocket when outside.
If a longer time frame (than a short recovery) is expected, a falls alarm pendant (or bracelet) are very useful & reliable. Some are user activated (so no good if you hit your head or pass out) but others are motion detected. I believe types differ, as may annual fees.
Not sure of your Husband's issues - would he yell for help? (My Mother has speaking issues now: a soft frail voice & cannot).
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