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Departments |
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Elder Care Tip:
Reaching The Phone
From The Floor
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Louise fell in her kitchen. She's
not sure how she fell, but she couldn't get up. Her back and leg
hurt so much she could barely move. And there the telephone was,
hanging on the wall...just out of reach.
Inch by inch Louise managed to crawl across the length of her
home into her bedroom. There she was finally able to reach the
phone cord and pull the phone to the floor. Help arrived about 6
hours (we think) after the original fall. Louise was chilled and
in great pain. She tore her skin on the carpet and is now
battling an infection as well as the crushed discs in her spine.
Is the phone in your elder's kitchen hanging up on the wall
where it was installed years ago? Could she reach it if she were
on the floor? Try it yourself and see. And keep in mind that
just because the receiver cord hangs down and you could pull the
receiver off, could you dial? Not unless the dial pad is on the
receiver.
Pulling the receiver off and to the floor effectively disables
all the phones on the line, so crawling to an extension would be
useless once the first phone is off the hook.
Check out the phone. If it can't be used from the floor it might
be useless in an emergency. Buy your elder a phone that sits on
the counter, and make sure there's a way to pull the whole thing
down to the floor if necessary. |
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