Falls are one of the primary causes of bodily injury sustained by seniors in the United States of America. As such, in the fields of caregiving in geriatrics, it is extremely important to prevent the occurrence of seniors falling out of bed.
At TerraBella Windsor Lake, we recognize how serious this issue can be, and we would thus like to keep you informed on how your loved one may be prevented from falling out of their own bed. We would like to share with you some very simple solutions that you may use to prevent your loved one from sustaining these fall-related injuries in their own bedrooms. With these tips, we hope that you will conscientiously create and maintain a safe and comfortable environment for your loved one.
Bed Rails Provide More than Just Protection from Fall-Related Injuries
Bed rails are normally perceived to be a method of keeping young children within the confines of their beds without falling out of them. However, bed rails are capable of fulfilling numerous other functions when they are used to help seniors.
Bed rails are able to assist seniors in getting in and out of their beds all on their own. Bed rails will also help seniors in comfortably positioning their bodies in bed, and of course, they can prevent seniors from taking a serious tumble out of bed. The kind and quantity of bed rails required are dependent upon the kind of bed on which the senior sleeps.
Another factor to take into consideration is whether or not the senior sleeps on their own or shares a bed with someone else. To explain this in more detail, a senior who sleeps on their own should have two bed rails, with one on each side of their bed.
But of course, if the bed is directly adjacent to a wall, a bed rail on the wall-facing side of the bed would obviously require no bed rail protection as there is not a risk of falling over on that particular side.
Taking the Appropriate Measures
Due to the fact that the chances of suffocation associated with climbing into bed can be significantly high for certain seniors, it is crucial to make sure that your loved one is properly assessed to check if they are at risk with respect to this issue.
If your loved one is not particularly physically fit, then measures should be taken to ensure the safety and security of your loved one. Make sure that the bed rail on at least one side of your loved one’s bed is low enough to ensure that your loved one will have no problems with climbing into their bed.
Do make the extra effort to make sure that your loved one’s bed rail and mattress are a good fit for each other. This is to make sure that there is absolutely no chance of your loved one getting trapped between the bed rail and the mattress, which may put them at a very high risk of suffocation.
