Slippery roads and cold weather “falls” are the number one killer of the elderly!

As people get older, their body coordination decreases and the risk of falling is much higher than for younger people. However, many families still have this misunderstanding, thinking that the elderly fall is a small matter, no big deal, stand up or help up just fine. Unbeknownst to them, falls are the leading cause of injury and death among people over 65 years old in China, according to the Falls Intervention Technical Guidelines for the Elderly issued by the Ministry of Health. The mortality rate of falls among older adults rises sharply with age and, in addition to causing death, leads to significant disability and affects the physical and mental health of older adults. According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2006, 30% of seniors over the age of 65 in the United States experience falls each year. China has entered an aging society, with 150 million people aged 65 and above. According to the estimation of 30% incidence rate, more than 40 million elderly people will have at least one fall every year. Falls seriously threaten the physical and mental health, daily activities and independent living ability of the elderly, and also increase the burden on the family and society. Therefore, it is important to know how to provide first aid to the elderly after a fall in order to help them in the first instance. Cold winter fractures are easy to occur Cold winter, wearing thick clothes, pants, action itself will be much slower, and then rain or snow, the road will become slippery, pedestrians walking or cycling are very easy to fall. In winter, especially after the rain and snow, for the mobility of the elderly, rain and snow travel especially need to pay attention to safety. Doctors recommend that seniors minimize travel after rain or snowfall. Must go out of the elderly, should be accompanied by family members when traveling or the use of “three-legged cane” as a helper, to prevent falls, in the action range of movement to be reduced, do not walk too quickly. Osteoporosis patients are prone to fracture in three parts of the body coordination ability of the elderly is also declining, the risk of falling in winter will be much higher than that of young people. For the elderly who are prone to osteoporosis, accidental falls can easily cause fractures in three parts: 1, wrist fracture: the most common type of osteoporotic fracture in the elderly. When a person is about to fall, he/she will mostly reflexively extend the palm of the hand to touch the ground to support and protect the body. 2. Vertebral fracture: mostly occurring in the lumbar and thoracolumbar parts of the spine vertebrae. When osteoporosis occurs, the vertebrae of the spine are often involved first, so that the supportive trabeculae in the vertebrae become reduced in number and fragile in quality structure. Zhang Yong pointed out that in severe cases, the vertebral body is like an empty house that has lost the support of pillars, with four walls in vain. Once stimulated by external forces, such as the occurrence of sit-down injuries, its loose and empty vertebral body is very easy to occur morphological changes, that is, vertebral compression fracture. 3, hip fracture: the hip is the connection part of the lower limbs and trunk. People in the moment of the fall, the lower limbs support, twisting force will act like a lever on the hip, osteoporosis of the elderly is very easy to cause the femur rudimentary or femoral neck fracture. Rescue bone injury accident do not easily move Seeing the elderly fall, will subconsciously help the elderly up and ask if there is no major obstacle. However, most of the elderly have osteoporosis, easy to fracture after a fall, the rush to help them up may aggravate the injury. If the car accident scene, people at the scene of treatment, first of all, we must observe whether the injured vital signs are stable, whether the consciousness is clear, whether the question and answer is relevant; secondly, check the injured parts, to understand the severity of the injuries, to determine whether there is a fracture; such as fracture occurs, near to find some boards or sticks and other objects to do a temporary fixation with. Finally, call 120 emergency. Fractures have the best healing time, usually within three months after the injury, so the first treatment is very important, required to achieve accurate reset, strong internal fixation or external fixation, to provide good conditions for fracture healing.