Fallen out of bed, not for the first time.

Deedaa

Before my husband died he had several falls either getting out of, or into, bed. He was a good 18 stone so there was nothing I could do with him, but fortunately our son was only 10 minutes away. On the couple of occasions he was at work I had to call an ambulance and they actually came very quickly and had him back in bed in minutes. The day he was taken into hospital for the last time he was unable to walk or stand and it is impossible to get a stretcher into our house and up the stairs so they had to get him down stairs on his bottom. It must have taken half an hour and they were marvellous with him. Encouraging him every inch of the way.

The ambulance service is totally fantastic, just when you get to the hospital becomes a nightmare!

OP said relatives 200 miles away Mt61?

Mum called an ambulance to get my dad up (she didnt want to ring me 3Am), He wasn’t hurt, but they decided take him to hospital. Two days on a trolley, mum stood with him for hrs, no chair.
Eventually put on a ward, where he caught covid. He was on that ward eight weeks as he was given another patients blood transfusion.. dad had Alzheimer’s so didn’t know to refuse it. Absolute nightmare.
Mum never called another ambulance after that & we managed between us to get him up, even though I can’t put weight through my knees.
I would have just phoned my relatives tbh.

Have you considered getting a low profile bed? They go down to just a few inches off the floor, and also have the possibility of a bar to prevent falls.

My previous bed was too high to climb into and I suffered an injury, so bought a low profile bed. They are very expensive, especially the 4ft wide ones, but I found one on Gumtree which was just a year old. It was incredibly cheap, but it cost a lot to have it transported to me by the disability people.

It is really very good. I have never fallen out of bed, and am unlikely to now. You should be able to get the normal 3ft wide beds as they are more common. They do raise at the head and foot. They can be raised high to make bedmaking easier.

There are also rails that help you get out of bed, just a foot wide, but high, so that you hold on to it when getting out and in.

Before my husband died he had several falls either getting out of, or into, bed. He was a good 18 stone so there was nothing I could do with him, but fortunately our son was only 10 minutes away. On the couple of occasions he was at work I had to call an ambulance and they actually came very quickly and had him back in bed in minutes. The day he was taken into hospital for the last time he was unable to walk or stand and it is impossible to get a stretcher into our house and up the stairs so they had to get him down stairs on his bottom. It must have taken half an hour and they were marvellous with him. Encouraging him every inch of the way.

sazz1

The lifting devise is called a mangar elk. Personally I think all shelter housing should have one for use with residents

I fully agree and at least three members of staff trained to use it, one member of staff for each 8 hour shift. I was one of three TAs who were responsible for a wheel chair bound student at the secondary school I worked at, we had to use a stair climber to get the student and wheel chair up the stairs and I hoist to lift the student onto a bed so he could be changed, every year we had to do training on both pieces of equipment and were certificated each year on completion of training. I know it's expensive but looking after elderly people, equipment to help lift them, move them and make them comfortable should be an absolute must for sheltered housing and care homes.

Grandma70s Just read your lst post and then learned you have been helped by ambulance personnel. Thank goodness you are safe after your awful experience. Did you just fall out of bed or did you fall when actually getting out of bed? Woukd you or even the sheltered housing staff consider asking for a social work assessment to ensure you have the appropriate occupational aids/adaptations that may help you prevent any injury. Take care.

If you aren't actually injured, call the fire brigade; much quicker than an ambulance. I have done it twice for DW.

Did you fall out of bed or did you fall trying to exit your bed if it's the later perhaps you could put a walking frame by the side of your bed to assist or get a bed rail but maybe you could do with an Occupational Therapy assessment to see how they can help you can refer yourself at your local social services office good luck

The lifting devise is called a mangar elk. Personally I think all shelter housing should have one for use with residents

Septimia

The usual advice if you fall and can't get up is to roll onto your hands and knees and crawl to a chair or other piece of sturdy furniture that you can use to pull yourself up.

That's fine - and useful - provided you're able to get onto your hands and knees to crawl!

I was by a sturdy piece of furniture - my bed. I can’t pull myself up. My legs aren’t strong enough for the final push.

I used my alarm button to call the staff, and they called the ambulance.

I do have family, but they are 200 miles away. Couldn’t exactly come rushing to my aid!

WelshPoppy

Personally I would have called family before an ambulance, but each to their own.

Not everyone has family they can call

Advice to crawl on hands and knees is no good to me, I can`t put any weight on my knees. Once I`m on the floor I cannot get up. That inflatable seat thing that the ambulance people use is brilliant.

Sorry to hear of your trouble last night/this morning. When DH fell out of bed once, we had just installed a carer alert thing, so I rang them and they were here in half an hour - we’d have waited hours for an ambulance. As you say, they used that same raiser air pillow thing to get him up to where we could slide him into bed. Earlier, DH used to be able to use his arm strength to get back onto the bed.

Is it possible to use a bed guard, at least on one side?

WelshPoppy

Personally I would have called family before an ambulance, but each to their own.

If you look back, the staff called the ambulance as they are not allowed to lift residents, not the OP

The usual advice if you fall and can't get up is to roll onto your hands and knees and crawl to a chair or other piece of sturdy furniture that you can use to pull yourself up.

That's fine - and useful - provided you're able to get onto your hands and knees to crawl!

I hope you feel better soon . My mum is in an assisted living flat and she has an alarm pendant to call . She’s lain on the floor for ages in the past , like you she doesn’t want to call me at silly o clock . I’ve now insisted she calls me whatever the time .
As for the ambulance, more serious cases will be attended to first .
Mum has a bed rail and if she falls again , I’ve advised her to try and roll onto her knees and to use the rail to pull herself up.
Another thing , did the paramedics ask how you fell, did you get dizzy getting out of bed ?
I’d call your GP and get yourself checked out . Plus if they consider you a falls risk, they can send out the occupational therapists, to maybe give you things to make your life easier.

Do you have a 'leg lifter' (Amazon)?

Post tkr - I always use a leg lifter, before starting getting out of bed - one leg out, stablise slowly, then second leg. Works a treat.

Keep your mobile phones always charged and within a hand’s reach away.

Grandma70s - glad you are safe in bed.
Happened to two friends I know . Both sat on the floor and tried to sleep , till family arrived for their usual visit at 11a.m. They were soaked in their own ‘business’ if you know what I mean. Both suffered fractures of the hips and never really recovered. 😢

Personally I would have called family before an ambulance, but each to their own.

Glad you are back in bed safe. Best to stay there while you feel wobbly and tired. You have had a shock and an uncomfortable time on the floor for hours so you need to rest.

Thank you all for your kind messages. I had about three hours sleep in the end - annoyingly woke at my usual time of 7-30. I’m spending today in bed. I’m perfectly all right really, just rather wobbly and tired.

When I had my hip op I had a raised narrow metal handle under the mattress which made a huge difference, I still had room to get in and out but something firm to hold made getting up safe and easy.
Hope you are ok now. Take it easy and relax.

That, or similar, has happened to me, several times. I have a Lifeline pendant, but they only contact family members, if they`re not available, they`ll send for an ambulance, but as stated, they can take an awfully long time. I was once on the floor for 7 hours. My daughter comes when called, but as I`m not exactly skinny Lizzie, she can`t lift me up.