Slip-sliding away — or how not to handle a bad fall

Randi Kreiss

Do you know anyone who took a fall recently? I know you do. Lots of people, it seems, especially in the over-50 crowd, are losing their footing and toppling down stairs or slipping from ladders or chairs or curbs.

In the over-65 crowd, one out of three people sustain a significant fall every year, the leading cause of injury among older Americans and the most common cause of hospitalization. In 2007, 18,000 people died as a direct result of falls, and the numbers have been increasing since then.

I fell last year just stepping out of a car, went airborne and came down face-down. I was lucky. A friend went for a low shot on a tennis court this year, landed on her face and broke her nose. A number of friends have tripped on curbs, fallen over roots on the golf course, slipped in the bathroom or tumbled down steps. You watch little kids fall and most times it seems as if they’re made of rubber. Their center of gravity is low, so the damage is generally quite minimal.

This winter, the ice and snow were perilous for walkers. People slid all over the sidewalks, but the padding of winter wear often saved them from serious injury.

My husband recently fell down a full flight of hard stairs in a store, and his experience is instructive. Apparently he was calling on an account in the upstairs offices of a store in Manhattan. He was carrying his attaché case. Leaving the appointment, he missed the top step and went down the entire flight. He suffered a gash over his right eye and bumped down the steps on his right side, injuring himself from his shoulder to his ankle.

A primer on what not to do after such an accident:

1. He did not allow the people there to call an ambulance.

2. He decided he did not need medical attention despite the fact that he has cardiac issues, including a defibrillator in his chest, attached by wires.

3. He refused the offer of a car service home to Long Island.

4. He went back to his office.

5. He came home by himself on the LIRR.

6. He got into bed and went to sleep.

7. Oh, yes: I was out of town, and he didn’t tell me or anyone else about the fall or the injuries.

8. The next day, he went to work.

9. The day after that, he flew down to Florida to meet me. He looked as if he’d been on the losing end of a bar fight.

10. He still refused to get medical attention.

So, we can attribute this behavior to denial or embarrassment — whatever strange forces run through some people’s minds when they get hurt. The important thing is, please, don’t do what he did. If you fall and hit your head, see a doctor. You can have bleeding inside your head that is not apparent. Especially if you have medical issues, get checked out.

My hubby got a mulligan. He’s fine and he is very lucky. Strange but true: The night of his accident, when I didn’t know about his fall, I had dinner with a friend and a neighbor of hers. The neighbor is a recent widow, a fairly young woman. Her husband fell down a flight of stairs in their house, broke his neck and died.

Copyright © 2011 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 304.