Hello everyone:

When I was visiting my dad recently, we noticed that a storm was moving into the area as he and I returned from lunch . We tried to get him back to his condo before it hit. We felt a sense of snug happiness when we got him home before the first raindrops fell. I dropped him off, expecting him to get on the elevator to his floor, where he would walk down the exposed-to-the-elements hallway and enter his unit.

Well, the first part of that plan went just fine, but the second part, not so much. He got off of the elevator on the right floor and headed towards his doorway. Just as he opened the screen door, the wind whipped the door out of his hand, the door hit him in the shin, and this action left a 6 inch gaping hole in his leg as it knocked him to the ground. He laid there on the ground for 30 minutes in a now-torrential rainstorm, getting soaking wet and crying out for help.

I was on my way back to my condo and was completely obvious to the disaster that had befallen him. About 45 minutes after I dropped him off, he called and told me about his fall. A neighbor had finally heard and responded to his cries and had helped him into his unit. Once inside, Dad had changed his clothes. His leg was bleeding but at least he was safe.

I called my brother to meet me at Dad’s place; we both dropped everything and went to check on him. Long story short, we patched him up and took him to the doctor. Later that week, he developed an infection in the leg and is now on antibiotics.

Here’s the point of this story: elderly people need some type of emergency contact button to carry with them, and be careful when elderly people get a cut. Dad had a phone in his pocket but he couldn’t reach it because of the way that he landed. His leg appeared to have a minor wound but he wasn’t able to take proper care of it and it became infected in just a few days.

What ideas do you have to share on this topic?

Best,

Dr. Sheri