Customer on the floor procedure

Purpose

This procedure describes the actions to be taken by staff called to attend a customer who is on the floor, probably as a result of a fall.

Responsibility

All staff

Process

At all times, staff should be mindful of the procedures for moving and handling.   Please see - Procedure for moving and handling customers

1. Staff should ascertain how the customer came to be on the floor.
2. Staff must determine whether the customer has sustained any injuries, and whether ambulance attendance is required.
3. Staff should establish whether the customer is able to get up with assistance; if necessary they should:

• Advise the customer to roll onto their front.
• Ask the customer to move to being on “all fours”.
• Provide a strong and stable stool or chair for the customer to pull themselves up onto.
• If the customer identifies any unusual pain during their self-lift, they should stop and the Response Officer should call for an ambulance.
• If the customer does not experience any pain but is just not able to self-lift the Response Officer should assist with the use of lifting aids.

1.  If the customer identifies any unusual or new pain during the lift, staff should stop and call for ambulance assistance.
2.  If the customer is unable to weight bear where they would normally be able to, staff should call for ambulance attendance
3.  Staff should seek the customer’s agreement to a referral being made to their GP for a health review as a result of the fall.