Hello, and welcome to a video aimed at teaching you safe steps to get up after a fall. You may already know that one in four adults over the age of 65 fall each year. This rate increases as a person ages. Additionally, lying on the floor for an extended time after a fall may result in complications. Therefore, having a plan in place should a fall occur is the first step to safe fall recovery. The initial step should a fall occur is to notify someone around you of your fall and call emergency services. If you live alone using a medical alert, having a phone always on the ground, or carrying a cell phone at all times would make this step most feasible. After initiating help, your next step would be to assess for injury. If you feel that you were injured, do not attempt to get up from a fall. Wait for emergency services to arrive.

Here, we are going to show you how to safely get up from a fall in a living room and show you the correct sequencing before moving to the bathroom, bedroom, outdoors, and on stairs. As these are common places to fall, it would be a good idea to consult with a medical professional, such as a physical therapist, as there may be differences based on your unique needs and home setup. Let’s start in the living room. As already mentioned, the first step would be to notify someone of your fall and determine you are not injured. Look for a sturdy piece of furniture around you to assist you in getting up. In this case, we are going to use a stable chair, but other safe items in your living room would include a couch or a coffee table. Once you have located your item, you should roll on your side, roll to the side, you feel strongest on if possible. Next, you should start to slowly push your upper body up to help you transition onto your hands and knees. Pause for a moment, if possible, to sturdy yourself.

Now that you are sturdy, you are going to begin crawling on your hands and knees toward the chair to assist you in getting up, the rest of the way. Now that you have reached the object, put your hands on the seat of the chair and bring one leg forward, so your foot is flat on the floor. If you feel you have one leg that is stronger than the other, put that stronger leg forward. The other leg should be bent with your knee on the floor in a half-kneeling position. Use your hands to push on the chair, if needed. Lastly, use your arms and legs together to slowly and carefully push up and pivot to sit on the chair. It is important that you sit for a few minutes before you try to do anything else to make sure you are okay.

Let’s look at the bathroom next. You have already notified someone of your fall and have determined you are not injured. First, look for a sturdy piece of furniture around you to assist you in getting up. We will apply what we learned in the living room to the side of the bathtub, but other safe items in your bathroom would include a toilet. Once you have located your item, you should roll onto your side. Roll to the side, you feel strongest on if possible. Next, you should start to push your upper body up to help you transition onto your hands and knees.

Pause for a moment, if possible, to sturdy yourself. Now that you are sturdy, you are going to begin crawling on your hands and knees towards the side of the tub to assist you in getting up the rest of the way. Now that you have reached the object, put your hands on the tub and bring one leg forward, so your foot is flat on the floor. Use your hands to push on the tub, if needed. Lastly, use your arms and legs together to slowly and carefully push up and pivot to sit on the side of the tub. It is important that you sit for a few minutes before you try to do anything else to make sure that you are okay.

Let’s look at the bedroom next. You have already notified someone of your fall and have determined you are not injured. First, look for a sturdy piece of furniture around you to assist you in getting up. In this case, we are going to use a bed, but other safe items in your bedroom would include a stable chair or a dresser. Once you have located your item, you should roll on your side. Roll to the side, you feel strongest on if possible. Next, you should start to slowly push your upper body up to help you transition onto your hands and knees. Pause for a moment if possible, to sturdy yourself.

Now that you are sturdy, you are going to begin crawling on your hands and knees towards the bed to assist you in getting up the rest of the way. Now that you have reached the objects, put your hands on the bed and bring one leg forward, so your foot is flat on the floor. Use your hands to push on the bed, if needed. Lastly, use your arms and legs together to slowly and carefully push up and pivot to sit on the bed. It’s important that you sit for a few minutes before you try to do anything else to make sure you are okay.

Let’s look at recovery from a fall outside of your home. You’ve already notified someone of your fall and have determined you are not injured. First, look for a sturdy object around you to assist you in getting up. In this case, we are going to use a bench, but other safe items outside would include a step, a railing, the side of the house, a fence, or your car bumper. Once you have located the object you will pull up on, you should roll onto your side. Roll to the side, you feel strongest on if possible. Next, you should start to slowly push your upper body up to help you transition onto your hands and knees. Pause for a moment if possible, to sturdy yourself.

Now that you are sturdy, you are going to begin crawling on your hands and knees towards the bench to assist you in getting up the rest of the way. Now that you have reached the bench, put your hands on it and bring one leg forward so that your foot is flat on the ground. Use your hands to push up on the bench, if needed. Lastly, use your arms and legs together to slowly and carefully push up and pivot to sit on the bench. It is important that you sit for a few minutes before you try to do anything else to make sure you are okay.

Lastly, let’s look at recovery from my fall on stairs. You have already notified someone of your fall and have determined you are not injured. Begin by rolling onto your side, roll to the side you feel strongest on if possible. Next, you should start to slowly push your upper body up to help you transition onto your hands and knees. Pause for a moment if possible, to sturdy yourself. Now that you are sturdy, you are going to begin crawling on your hands and knees towards the stairs to assist you in getting up the rest of the way.

Now that you have reached the stairs, put your hands on the stair and walk your hands up a step or two, slowly bringing one leg forward, so your foot is flat on the ground or floor. Use your hands to push on the stairs, if needed. Lastly, use your arms and legs together to slowly and carefully push up and pivot to sit on the stairs. It is important that you sit for a few minutes before you try to do anything else to make sure you are okay. If you have additional questions or feel you would benefit from additional education on this topic, please contact a medical professional, such as a physical therapist to receive individualized assessments and training to best address your unique needs.