How to Lift a Heavy Person Who Has Fallen? (ANSWERED)

So, how to lift a heavy person who has fallen without injuring him/her or yourself?

Lifting a person, especially if he or she’s stocky, could be physically and psychologically demanding, particularly if you’re not a pro.

You’d have to give a Himalayan effort to lift, turn, and carry a near and dear one, putting both yourself and the patient at risk of grievous injury.

Possible Risks

Caregivers and healthcare providers report that lifting and carrying heavyweight people makes patients and family members and paid helpers vulnerable to shoulder, neck, and back injuries.

A caregiver or a family member is most likely to suffer an injury when:

1. Inclined over the patient for an extended period
2. Shifting the patient from a couch or bed to a wheelchair
3. Making the patient sit up from a reclining position

There are some standardized lifting methods and strategies that you can use to prevent and minimize injury risks. We’ll look at general principles first and then continue with a specific strategy to lift heavy people.

So, How to Lift a Heavy Person Who Has Fallen?

Regardless of whether the patient is sitting in bed, standing up, or sitting, you have to follow a few common tips while transferring or lifting the person:

1. Preserve the natural spinal curvature: keep yourself straight while moving or lifting.
2. Appropriate alignment of the head, neck, and spine.
3. Do not twist or bend your body while you’re lifting and transporting the patient.
4. Make the most of your legs’ muscles when drawing and lifting.
5. Keep your shoulders and feet apart to keep yourself steady.
6. Always ensure that the patient you’re dealing with is close to your torso.

How to Lift a Heavy Person Off the Floor by Hand?

Irrespective of whether you’re a family member or a caregiver responsible for taking care of a heavily built patient, you could find it challenging to lift the person in case he or she falls.

Either you can physically lift the patient off the floor with your hands or take advantage of a medical lifting device.

1. For a start, get hold of a durable object, say a dining chair, and bring it as close as possible to the patient lying on the floor. The patient will use the chair as a prop for lifting himself or herself.
2. After that, carefully assist the individual in turning over to one side while supporting them to be on their knees and hands.
3. At this stage, verbal reassurance and encouragement from your end are incredibly crucial. After the patient can support himself with his knees and hands, position the chair nearer, and help the individual position his hands on the chair’s edge.
4. Next, tell him/her to cautiously bend his/her more muscular leg in the forward direction in a way so that he/she is now balanced on a single knee with his/her hands firmly holding the chair.
5. Now, you can slowly steer him/her, just stopping short of lifting him/her. If he/she’s physically strong enough to do it himself, then allow him to. Or else, you can lift him and put him on a bed or prop him up on the chair.

I hope this information was helpful to you.