How do you assess if a fall needs medical care in the days of COVID?

UPDATE:
She made it through surgery and is healing in a 2 week rehab. So far she is doing great. I dropped the ball on this I should have called immediately. But Thank God he kept her safe through all of this so far.
Please pray for her Recovery 🙏🏼🕊💗

Jewledmom77: Imho, you should have notified EMS at the time of occurrence.

Anytime my dad or now my mom falls I call fire and rescue. They do a quick assessment before lifting them up. If necessary they were transported to the hospital.

Can you send her to the ER via ambulance? Sounds like there definately could be a fracture especially at her age.

With falls we really have no choice but to call 911.

My 40 year career was in Imaging btw.

If she can’t walk it should be seen. If she broke her hip it’s more risky than covid I would think. I’d at least call her doctor and report it. It’s important when you care for an elderly person with dementia to report any kind of incident so it becomes part of her medical record. You could be blamed for not reporting something if it’s serious.

As always - quality of life is the goal.She needs to be comfortable.
if her hip is broken - she may need particular help and assistance to be comfortable while healing properly.
x-rays may be necessary to determine this. Check with her primary care physician.

Just call 911 and have some qualified EMTs evaluate her! Every time she falls, no if ands or buts about it. People wind up dying from not getting medical care because of fear of a virus. Don't be one of them.

She definately needs some imaging studies if she appears to have list mobility.

if you want to avoid the hospital, you may be able to take her to her PCP and go to an outpatient radiology facility.

in an abundance of caution, however, your PCP will probably direct you to an emergency room.

if she has a fracture that needs to be set, she could heal improperly without treatment.

Please take her to the doctor for an X-ray of her hip. She may not have much pain depending on what type of fracture it is.
This happened to my Mom and the paramedic told her it wasn’t fractured or she wouldn’t be able to walk. Good thing I wasn’t there when it happened. I would have had a few words to say to him.
My Mom did indeed have a fracture and had to have a rod implanted to fix it.
Your Mom may have just bruised her hip but an X-ray is an easy non-invasive way to find out.

Friend's 85 YO dad fell last week, said he was alright but later complained of pain. ER visit and MRI showed he has 3 cracked vertebrae. Contact the Dr office and ask where to go, maybe there is a separate lab facility that can do the X-rays without going to a hospital.

Another's friends Mom complained for weeks about pain in her hip. Turns out her husband had kneed her in his sleep and broke her hip! The elderly are so fragile, it’s better to get it checked ASAP than let it go and have an injury worsen.

I was told that at that age any fall is serious. My mom fell, she only complained of her hip hurting. Dr. said to call 911. They scanned her hip which was ok but that she had a fracture in her back. It hurt her to move one of her legs and pain in the hip which was all connected to her L4 fracture.

I should have read the other responses before posting my answer. I see your grandma had surgery. Hugs and prayers for a speedy recovery!!!

Hi. I would worry about a possible hip fracture. Walk in clinics would be a safer bet. I'm sure they can do X-rays.
Just an example of what I just went through 2 weeks ago. My mom fell out of bed and cut her ear deeply. We called paramedics because my mom can hardly get down the 2 sets of stairs. They agreed that it needs stitches. They would not transport her. They have to keep their ambulances free for covid patients and life and death scenarios. They suggested a walk in clinic. So got mom down the stairs and she her legs gave out in the grass. I had to pick her up by myself and get her in the car. Got to walk in clinic and the PA came out, looked at her ear and said it was too complicated for them to fix. They said go to ER. So many people in pain from one thing or another waiting in the waiting room for hours!! We waited 4 hours before being called back for just an assessment and BP check. Then back to the waiting room. It was 11:30 pm before we got out of there. I couldn't go back with her. The whole thing was horrible. They glued her ear shut instead of stitches and did a CT of the brain. So, if there is any way possible, don't go to the ER!!! Try a walk in clinic or her Dr first!!!!!

Jewlmomed77
How are things? How did the surgery go?

i don't think its poor love. she was just more scared of the Cov and making matters worse. at least she reached out and got positive feedback. family in prayer.

call a doctor that does TeleHealth online. #1 they could assist. contact maybe also a pharmacy see what's the next best. Tele may take a minute. u can also contact the hospital and just ask what could u do.

You could take her to an ER not a Hospital and they could take an x ray to make sure she doesnot have internal bleeding.
Mare sure nothing is broken.
It could just be sore and bruised.

BUT, better to be safe than sorry.

It sounds like this situation is resolved. But next time, does your doctor or hospital have zoom appointments? This might be an intermediate step. We have a senior care clinic and the doctor's nurse takes emergency calls to to see what is the appropriate next step. My husband had surgery and his surgeon had him send pictures of the wound rather than driving in to be checked. (One good use for sexting in this world. I teased them both that, as far as I know, this is the only sext my husband has sent.)All these devices can help in many situations. Look into these resources before they are needed. None of us usually think of it until the problem is upon us urgently.

Please take her to urgent care to evaluate her hip. It might not be broken but it might be bruised or a slight dislocation. You won't know until she is evaluated.

I will keep her in my prayers 🙏

I arrived late and was going to say sounds like she broke her hip, call 911.

How is she doing this morning. Don't think about bringing her home, she needs rehab to gain strength so she can come back home in a few weeks. It will be hard on her, but that is what is best for her.

When my mom fall when they was being really strict I called urgent care they told me to bring her to the clinic and they would like at her they took x-rays and they said she didn't break anything. So see if you can take her to one to get checked out

I have Kaiser also. They are good for giving you advice of when to come in to have her checked. Also, Kaiser has VERY strict methods of SEPARATING Covid patients from other emergency patients.

Good for you! Hip pain after a fall should always be seen even at 50 yr old!

How did the surgery go?

Good on you for getting your grandma some medical attention.

UPDATE:
I called 911 this morning & she was transported to Kaiser. They determined she did fracture her hip.😭
She is having surgery in the morning.
Please keep her in your Prayers.

I think that she needs to be medically assessed.

My mom had vascular dementia and fell once again in the house. This was in April 2020, so the emts were afraid to bring her to the er because of the Covid risk, and just got her back into bed.

After about two days of watching her languish in bed, refuse almost all food and drink, I went in and demanded I call an ambulance and have her evaluated. They said she had a uti and vascular dementia and after a too short time in the hospital on iv antibiotics.... She was transferred to a snf for "REHAB"......... SHE NEVER IMPROVED AS FAR AS BEING BEDRIDDEN AND INCONTINENT........ BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY........... I THINK YOUR LO NEEDS MEDICAL EVALALUATION ASAP!

I've been reading several stories from people in similar situations to yours who have encountered chaos at the hospital, if that could be happening in your region then I'd call around first to see if there might be a better option than an ER.

I agree that she should be taken to Urgent Care or ER to be assessed, especially if there is a change in her abilities, mobility or pain from before the fall to after. It doesn't take much for some elders to break a bone and often it's not obvious right away. Be aware that if she did have a break there is chance she will need to go from the ER to a rehab facility because if she is immobile, it will become very challenging, if not impossible, to provide appropriate care for her at home.

She should be seen. Any fall in a person of that age should be checked out. And especially if she can not walk.
The staff at the hospital does everything they can to isolate those that may have symptoms but things can happen. But it is more important that your grandma be seen and properly treated.
IF she broke her hip she most likely will not walk again unless it is treated. And the life expectancy of an untreated hip fracture is about 12 months or fewer

Also if there is a break there is a very good possibility that this was a BREAK and FALL not a FALL and BREAK.
Many times the hip will break causing the fall not the other way around.

Covid or no Covid, your Gma needs to assed by the medical professionals. If she is not able to now walk and is having pain when trying to, that is a clear indication that there is an issue and that she needs to be seen in ER, or her regular PC.
You must remember that just because Covid is still around doesn't mean that we are to ignore our/others health issues, as that can only make things worse.

And if there is a next time that she falls, please call 911, and they will come out to not only pick her up, but will also asses her in the home. If they feel there is no need to transport her to the hospital there is no charge. Only if they have to transport her, will there be.

I hope she will be ok, and you will have wisdom and discernment as to what to do for her.