Is there an older person in your family? Then, you should pay attention to the conditions in which this person is living which is extremely important for one’s safety. There are so many simple things which can become dangerous to people in the senile age which is usually accompanied with various medical conditions, naturally worse coordination of movements and slower reactions.
Some of the recommendations mentioned in this article might save the elderly from a real tragedy.
Pay your attention to the electric devices used by an older person
Electric devices including wires are one of the most often culprit for fires. Unfortunately, many older people are using quite out-of-date models of rather dangerous appliances, for example, irons and are not often aware of problems with wires and electric sockets at their houses. If you notice anything such, you should repair the damages or change the device for new once as soon as possible as they can lead to real tragedies.
It will also be sensible to choose more advanced models of electric devices, for example irons and electric kettles. There are models of irons which are capable of identifying the moments when there are not used. The heating of the devices is blocked during these periods of inactivity. When it comes to kettles, you can choose the ones which will not get turned on without a minimum amount of water inside.
Get rid of cookers working with gas
Unfortunately, gas stoves are too dangerous for the elderly no matter how good or economic they are. There are too many possibilities for unwanted situations which may happen starting with unnoticed gas leakage up to the situations in which an older person will just have to deal with matches and fire on one’s own which might be rather challenging.
If an older person still want to use a gas stove, you should choose the one which will work without matches and will also be equipped into a safety system which will automatically turn off the gas supply once there is no fire.
You should also think about smart smoke detectors.
Be careful with carpets
The danger coming from carpets which can be found in almost any house of an older lady is not thus obvious to young people. Unfortunately, for the elderly this item of the internal design can be rather unsafe.
When it comes to large carpets, it is pretty easy to get stuck with such an obstacle on one’s way and fall down whereas small carpets can be slippery on the floor making a person fall down as well. There is no need to explain how serious such events can be for older people who can easily break some parts of their bodies or even have a severe head injury. Taking into consideration the inability of the elderly to move and react quickly, they will also not have such chances for calling someone and ask for help which can turn an unfortunate event into a real tragedy.
If your older relative is absolutely against an idea of getting rid of a carpet, you can at least try to make it safer for this person. Of course, if the carpet is thus warned-out that it has rather damaged edges, it will still be better to throw it away and just buy a new one for your relative. If a large carpet will still remain in the house of your relative, you can just stick or attached to the floor. It is crucial to eliminate a possibility of getting a foot under the edge of the carpet.
Small carpets can be fixated with anti slip mats which should be placed under such carpets.
Do not forget about any wires lying around the place which can be a source of serious health issues for your relatives.
Protect an older person when she or he is out
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the world is even more cruel to the elderly outside. One of the major problems waiting for them is the loss of memory or coordination.
Of course, with aging, people are losing their memory abilities and, when it comes to people with various forms of dementia, they can be prone to having their memory functioning in a rather untypical way. For instance, out of a sudden they might go to work even though they have not been working for twenty years or they might decide to go to home which is actually the place in which they used to live during their childhood.
One of the things you can do in such a case is buying the simplest possible cell phone and trying to teach an older person to use it. You should also write the phone numbers of other people whom an older person can reach in confusing situation on the paper. Do not rely too much on saving it in the phone. It will be a good idea to copy these numbers and put them to the pockets of different pieces of clothes of your relative so that he or she will always have a chance to come across such a phone number.
You can also purchase a special model of watch which will allow you to see the location of an older person.