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There are a number of reasons why someone may fall. It could be an uneven surface, it could be they have tripped or slipped, they could faint or pass out or it could be that their legs give way.
When you are assisting someone back to their house and they fall you need to act quickly, don't try to catch the person or hold them up or try to stop the fall, as this could cause you to suffer a serious muscular skeletal injury, or you could end up falling with them, hurting both you and the person you are trying to help.
The best thing that you can do in this situation is to guide their fall. If they are holding onto your arm, don't try to hold them up, allow them to fall slowly, crouch down with them as they fall if you can, so that you can be in a position to protect their head, another way is to put one arm on either side of the person and guide their fall, again doing the best you can to protect their head.
When they are on the ground you need to find out whether they have been injured in the fall, if they are badly injured or are in a lot of pain, you will need to call the emergency services. While you are waiting for them to arrive keep the individual safe and keep them warm.
If they are sure they are OK do not try to get them up straight away, make sure that they are calm first, make sure that they get up in their own time and stop to rest if they need to. Assist them at all times, if they feel any pain whilst trying to move or get up or if they cannot get up you will need to call the emergency services.
Never try to lift them up off the floor, this is likely to cause injury to you and may hurt the person you are trying to help. Ask someone to help, ask them to bring a sturdy chair. Ask the individual to roll onto their side, and then get slowly onto their hands and knees, assist and support them carefully but let them move in their own time if they have a cut to their knee find something soft that you can put down for them to kneel on. Help them up to a kneeling position, supporting them at all times.
They will need something sturdy and secure to use to push themselves up if you have the chair that is ideal. When they have used the chair to push themselves up the chair can be placed behind them and you can help them help them into it so that they can rest safely.
Remember, never try to lift someone off the floor, if they cannot get up with your assistance, if they are injured and in pain, the best course of action is to call the emergency services, keep them calm, reassure them and keep them warm and safe, until professional help arrives.
