Wearable airbags and elderly fall protection.

**Arron** · 5th December 2022, 06:25 AM

Hi. My elderly mother has been assessed as being at very high risk of falls. In fact she has already had a few falls and I fear the next one will be the big one. I was looking at the wearable airbags and wondering if they are a good idea or not.

For those who don’t know, they are inflatable airbags worn as a belt or vest, which inflate when a fall is detected to cushion the impact.

In my mothers cas I’m assuming the belt style (which protects just the hips) is the one she will opt for, on the basis that the vest style would interfere with daily life and comfort too much.

Has anyone had any experience with these, or perhaps investigated them for their own parents. Can you share what you learned please?

FYI: I hope to talk the relevant person in the ‘independent living nursing home’ where she lives about this subject, but want more then one viewpoint.

Cheers
Arron

**ian** · 9th December 2022, 03:48 AM

Arron
Have you considered the alternate option of allowing your mother to fall and not go to extreme lengths to keep her alive?

I know that sounds very harsh, but based on my personal experience with a 103+ year old great aunt, the "worst" decision made by her primary carer (my then 70 year old father's sister) was to resuscitate her after the old lady broke her hip at age 100.

To my mind it's a quality of life issue.
Your elderly mother falls and breaks her leg or arm -- probably readily fixable without affecting your mother's quality of life.
she falls and breaks her hip -- what will her quality of life be as she recovers?
she falls and breaks her hip and head -- severe head injuries might be prevented by a "brain bucket" or a chest worn inflatable air bag. Much less likely with a hip worn version.

I'll leave you to ponder the quality of live issue ... whether to accept that your mother has fallen and shouldn't be resuscitated, or ...

BTW
I believe chest worn air bags were developed to provide a measure of survivability in avalanches.

**yvan** · 9th December 2022, 07:48 AM

Aaron,

As the SIL of a great lady approaching the tender age of 103, I appreciate your search to find something likely lessen the serious injury(ies) your mother could experience as a result of a fall.

However, I believe that measures should be taken to prevent your mama falling in the 1st instance and it may perhaps be the time for her to move to a higher-dependency facility where the care offered to residents takes into account the fact that she could be seriously injured if she were to fall. I presume that you would already be aware of the existence of Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT) whose task is to assess the needs of older people and, in process, assess the level of care she may require.

Forgive me if I am teaching you to how to suck eggs & all the best in finding a solution to make your mother safe and comfortable!

Cheers
Yvan

**Pete57** · 9th December 2022, 07:57 AM

My father had many falls & it was mainly his head that that seemed to hit things on the way down.
Consider one of the personal medical alarms that hang around her neck. She can use it to call for help if she has a fall or other medical issue.
Not an easy job helping elderly relatives

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