Falls Awareness Week

Around 10% of the calls received by Yorkshire Ambulance Service are to patients who have fallen.

To mark Falls Awareness Week (20-26 September 2022), we are focusing on the number of pathways available to us to ensure these patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time and get the help they need prevent future falls.

Getting the first available response to someone who has fallen is key to preventing these complications and there are a number of options available to us depending on the patient’s condition:

• Patients with no injury, or in some cases a minor injury, can be referred to local responder services. These teams are often available more quickly than an ambulance for patients requiring assistance up from the floor.
• In some areas, volunteer Community First Responders (CFRs) are also available to respond to falls, equipped with Raizer chairs to safely lift people from the floor. We currently have over 300 CFRs with the necessary training to respond to patients who have fallen, with plans in place to deliver this training to all CFRs.
• Calls for patients with minor injuries or illness related to a fall may be suitable for referral from EOC to a local Urgent Community Response team for a face-to-face response (if the team has a falls response capability).
• Other patients will still receive an emergency ambulance response, particularly if there is concern about a serious injury or illness.

There are a number of services available across the region which may help to care for people in their usual place of residence after a fall; local Urgent Community Response teams are usually the best place to start. Some areas may also have a community frailty service available which can provide expert input to design an appropriate patient-centred care plan.