What to do when an older person falls

Key points:

• Assess a person’s reaction and if there are any visible signs of damage or distress

• If a person is unable to be moved without experiencing pain or is unresponsive, immediately call emergency services on 000 and request an ambulance — it may be important to describe the age and condition of the person

• Try to determine what they may have fallen on or if they may have landed on a ledge

As people age, their bodies age with them and carers need to assess an older person’s living condition for potential risks and hazards. Trips are one of the biggest risks and hazards for older people, as one in four people aged 65 and over have at least one fall per year.

How to assess a person’s condition

To assess whether someone needs emergency medical attention, check to see if they are:

• conscious;
• lucid — responding clearly, understanding their surroundings and your questions;
• can get up on their own or with assistance, showing low to moderate difficulty doing so;
• can stand up on their own or with the use of their regular mobility equipment after getting up;
• bleeding or severely bruised.

If a person is unconscious after a fall and you have called for an ambulance, check to see if there was a ledge near their head or if their head appears to be visibly hurt. If you suspect that they may have sustained a head injury due to their environment, it is important to inform paramedics of this fact.

If a person can’t get up on their own or seems to react to the pain of standing up, this is also an important sign that you need to call for an ambulance to transport them to the emergency room.

If a person can get up with assistance, without reacting pained, but they display visible signs of pain, such as bleeding or visible bruising, it may be worth transporting them to the emergency room yourself.

If an older person has fallen over and doesn’t consider it a serious matter or doesn’t appear to be hurt, it may be worth booking an appointment with their GP to follow up and assess any potential damage.

Why falls should be taken seriously

Older people may be too prideful, independent or resilient to request help or accept help from a concerned person, however, falling over is a bigger thing than one might think.

Falls are Australia’s leading cause of injury hospitalisation and death, representing 43 percent of injury hospitalisations and 42 percent of injury deaths.

For injuries caused by falls, 60 percent of hospitalisations in 2021 – ‘22 and 94 percent of deaths in 2020 – ‘21 were for people aged 65 and over.

Healthy Bones Australia’s Know Your Bones Community Risk Report identified that, of the 104,000 respondents, 52 percent who reported a broken bone were aged between 50 – 69 years.

Notably, hip fractures are most severe in terms of ongoing pain, disability and mortality. Following a hip fracture in Australia, 11 percent of patients are discharged to residential care and up to six percent of cases result in death.

Where to find more information about falls, falls prevention and home modifications

How to maintain and improve mobility and reduce falls

Slips, trips and falls: Wet weather safety for older people

Planning for a hospital stay

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