Help for the Disabled?

[bod1403]

I am having a moan :/ My husband, who is disabled, had a fall in the bathroom over the weekend, thankfully he didn't hurt himself but couldn't get up even with my assistance. He crawled from the bathroom to the bedroom but still couldn't get onto the bed. So I called the nurse - not available, doctor - call NHS24, NHS24 - can't help with lifting, get a neighbour to help!!! So in desperation called 999 ambulance & explained the situation, within 30mins 2 lovely paramedics were there to help......I can't thank them enough.
This was not a job for the emergency services but thank God they came or he could still be on the floor this morning.

[Doreen]

Im glad all is well we are so lucky to have a brilliant service here:)

[Incognit0]

What awful neighbours that wouldn't help :(

[sam]

What awful neighbours that wouldn't help :(

Where does it say in the op that the neighbours wouldn't help?
how do you know they don't have a disability them self or are pensioners, or maybe they don't even have neighbours.[disgust]

[starfish]

they never said neighbours would not help thats the advice nhs 24 give them perhaps the neighbours where elderly or no near neighbour as some of us have no close neighbours would this elderly person have to walk to get help from the nearest neighbour in the distance my advicwe to her is just ring 999 in the further our ambulance crews are lovely

[starfish]

sorry same we must have posted at the same time

[David from Stockport]

Dont know what area you live but it may not be easy to get a neighbours help - when my gran was in her 80 s she lived in the house opposite my parents but would fall at say 3 in the morning and also my parents were not young/fit enough to lift someone easily , in the end she had to go in a home .
Perhaps you should treat your bad experiance as a good thing /training session and have words with near neighbours/friends in advance and get something sorted for your piece of mind . You dont say how old/disabled your husband is ! does he carry an alarm in case he falls when you are not around .
My Dad has been diagnosed with Dementia in the last couple of months and that is awfull for my Mum as he must also be on everyones scammers list ,so she has to get the post/phone first . The other week it was his Brothers funeral and next day he asked " you know the funeral yesterday ? who s was it ?"

[poppett]

Dad has had a number of falls over the years and the advice is to ensure there is no injury before attempting to move the patient. Lifting is a skill which has to be learned and especially with disabled people sometimes they have a particular way which doesn`t hurt them when being hauled about. My OH has a dislocating hip which if we see the signs of it moving out of position I can manipulate it back, which is very painful, but less painful and quicker than having to go to hospital. Better safe than sorry.

In the past I have helped folks who have fallen down to get up, and each time when the medics arrived they said "You should have left them where they lay until we got here to assess the damage".

Hope Mr Bod makes a good recovery from his fall.

[pat]

My neighbour is 91 tomorrow and frequently has falls, her daughter lives with her but is not in good health either.
The daughter knows to call me when mum falls but sometimes the daughter does not like to disturb me and tries to get mum up on her own - one problem is that mum also is fairly weighty - end result is mum is sore and exhausted, daughter is sore and short of temper and mother has not moved.
When asked to help I check mum out and if able try to persuade her to help get on her own feet or if looking too weary I will phone police for them to ask ambulance station to get permission from Inverness to come down the road to pick 'Mrs D' off floor - luckily the people in station know her well, she has been a well known character in the village all her life .
Last time she was on the floor my plumber happened to be in the house so asked him, have frequently asked guests to help lift her but only if I know guests well enough
Most of my neighbours are elderly or have health problems so trying to find an able bodied person is fairly difficult, but when desperate the ambulance crews are fantastic.

[Kodiak]

If you have a neighbour who comes to your door asking for help to lift someone who has fallen in their house then I suggest that you think twice before rushing to lift them. Unless you have traing of the correct precedeure of lifting a person off the floor.

Not only could you do more damage than good but you could also hurt yourself. Lifting a person who is in a prone position on the floor is not as easy as you would think. It has been years since I have had to do this, (back in my nursing days), but I would not attempt it now even with the help of another person.

So in the circumstances of the OP I would say calling the Ambulance Service was the correct thing to do.

[pat]

Agree with you Kodiak - not to move unless you have knowledge and have checked out person - after many years nursing it is my ingrained habit to check before moving anyone and only move the person when I feel safe enough to do so, if in doubt call them out.

[bod1403]

Aw! Thanks all for your kind words & advice but to put things straight we have lovely neighbours who would have willingly helped but when hubby is ready for a shower you really want to keep some dignity. I don't think a neighbour & myself would have been able to lift hubby anyway & as a couple of you said there's a knack to lifting people.
Never mind all over & done with now & he's fine & hopefully a one off.