Imagine lying in a bed staring at the ceiling and these fuzzy faces looking down on you clearly saying something to you but you can't hear them while your hip and pelvis are hurting worse than anything you have ever felt. That's what many of our fall from standing elderly patients experience in emergency departments on a regular basis. Do not remove glasses or hearing aides from your elderly patients. Work with our EMS colleagues to make it a practice to bring glasses and hearing aides along from the scene. Speak slowly and get close to their ear to help if necessary. That confusion, delirium or dementia you assume this patient has is actually just hearing impairment and poor vision.
