They Fell. What to Do in the Next 48 Hours.
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This page is about the house. Anything to do with injury, pain, dizziness or medication belongs with their doctor — and a fall with no obvious injury still deserves a call, because falls are often the first sign of something else.
Find out where and how, precisely
Not “in the bathroom” — which direction were they moving, what were they holding, what was the floor like, what time was it. The answers point straight at the fix. Getting up from the toilet at 3am is a different problem from stepping out of the shower at 8am.
The four things worth doing this week
- Light the night route. Motion-sensing plug-in lights at floor level, bedroom to bathroom. Most falls in this group happen at night, and this is the cheapest intervention there is.
- Deal with the floor. Loose rugs, trailing cords, the mat that slides. Remove rather than tape.
- Give the hand somewhere to go at the two transfer points — getting off the toilet and getting out of the shower. Properly anchored, rated to 250 lbf.
- Ask about an OT home assessment. An occupational therapist will see things in twenty minutes that a family member will not see in a year.
After a fall it is normal to want to order everything at once. Resist it for a week. Fix light, floor and the two transfer points first, then see what is still hard. Most of the expensive equipment people buy in the first 48 hours goes unused.
Home-setup guidance only. Not medical advice.