Who do you phone if a 92 year old falls over in their own home

hollydays

I have to say I've had experiences similar to pollycat  but when contacting the police and being interrogated and spoken to rudely. It's happened more than once.I have come to the conclusion that some of these operators are so used to speaking to idiots, that they treat everyone the same.

Pollycat

hollydays said:

I have to say I've had experiences similar to pollycat  but when contacting the police and being interrogated and spoken to rudely. It's happened more than once.I have come to the conclusion that some of these operators are so used to speaking to idiots, that they treat everyone the same.

I had gone outside to talk to the despatcher as it was busy and noisy in the pub (Wetherspoons on a Tuesday steak night).

I'd left the guy sat on a chair with someone he'd been sat near to but not with. He didn't know him either but we'd had a quick chat and decided between us that an ambulance was a better bet (I'd previously rung for a taxi for him but then decided that he probably wouldn't have been able to get out of the taxi when they got to the hospital and it wouldn't have been fair to the taxi driver to dump that on him).

So...I got back in the pub, still on the phone and the guy had disappeared. Turns out that he'd got himself into the disabled toilet. And locked the door.

When I relayed that information to the despatcher, he went ballistic and asked what I was going to do if he'd collapsed and was unconscious.

I was furious.

That was the point I told him to 'back off' and suggested we took a step back and for him to understand I was doing the best I could for a random stranger and stop with the attitude or this particular Good Samaritan would put the phone down and leave him to decide if he wanted to send an ambulance or not.

In fairness, he did apologise.

And the guy came out of the loo safely.

And we got him off in the ambulance when it turned up.

Queenriderbrekke

If in Norfolk 
https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/care-support-and-health/start-with-social-care/urgent-help/get-urgent-help-at-home-norfolk-swift-response-team
I imagine that other areas have similar services.

shaun_from_Africa

I don't know whether you can believe all the stories in the tabloids about people calling for an ambulance for some things such as:

While one caller wanted to know what the temperature was outside. 

One man rang because he could not find his trousers.

An 18-year-old felt unwell because they had a drag on a cigarette. ‘There’s a hedgehog in my garden’. 

Staff at a care home phoned for an ambulance because they wanted one to take them to a job interview at a hospital.

But IMO, there is absolutely nothing wrong for calling an ambulance for a 90+ year old who's had a fall.
They may well appear fine afterwards but who knows about a possible broken bone, and who knows why the fall even happened. It could have been something as simple as a stumble but then again it could have been because of a minor stroke or blackout.

Welsh_and_proud

daveyjp said:

Any fall of an elderly person who was alone when they fell should be investigated by emergency services.

How do you know they didn't fall and hit their head?  Concussion can take a while to manifest itself.

An emergency responder not being happy with a call out is out of order.

My grandad had another fall today so my aunty phoned 111 and a rapid response doctor was sent out and she sent him to hospital as was shocked that the ambulance crew left him alone when he couldn't get out of the chair or even walk on his own.

coachman12

Ignore reaction of previous ambulance paramedic. Your grandad is 90, he's paid his dues for what seems a completely common 999 approach when someone is unsure about injuries that may not be apparent but may exist as result of the fall at that age. What on earth has become of the state of the 6th largest economy in the world? Hope your Grandad is well now, but may be time to consider residential care perhaps. But that is your business and I just wish you and your grandad all the best.

Gers

Most Social Work departments will organise a contact service for the elderly.  My DM (now 92) has had a Tele-care pendant for many years.  She wears it round her neck when alone in the house.  When she fell last year I was with her and pressed the big red button on the phone -she'd broken her hip.  Since then the council has added on a flashing light fire alarm and a fall alarm. She pays £13.00 a month, the extra stuff didn't add to the price.

My late father refused such help so the SW put in a sensor mat outside his bathroom to check that he walked over it.

sheramber

when my mother used her emergency pendant after  she fell out of her bed and couldn't getup they sent to two constables to lift her back into bed.

[Deleted User]

I had a similar experience with my elderly mother recently. She suffers from dementia and had fallen between her bed and the wall. She'd twisted her upper body onto the bed and trapped herself. She was completely uncooperative when I attempted to lift her and I was afraid I might injure her if I forced the issue.  She also gave no indication as to whether she was already injured.

Very worried and with no one else to help me, I called an ambulance and the staff  could not have been more helpful and prompt.  They hoisted her into a chair and checked her blood pressure etc. Finding no injury, I found myself apologising for wasting their time, but they simply insisted it was their job. 

So I'd say calling an ambulance was a sensible option for the OP given the circumstance (and age) of the patient. However, the  criticism  forthcoming from the responder seems to have been because  the patient was up and around before they arrived.