whump! Uh-Oh....
One of my customers today was a sweet little old lady.
We chatted as I bagged her groceries, she complimented me on my packing.
We smiled, I gave her the change, she turned and walked to the doors, I turned to the next customer.
Then I heard it.
Whump!
I turned toward the door and saw the sweet little old lady flat out face down!
I raced over and helped as she got to her knees, while my supervisor called the first aid attendants.
She kept insisting she was fine, had just tripped on something.
There wasn't anything on the floor to trip on, so I assumed she'd tripped on her shoe.
(it happens, I've done it!)
When the first aid attendants got to her, I went back to my customer, who hadn't minded at all that I'd rushed off like that. Really, I was only gone for less than a minute.
The woman didn't want to fill out an incident report, nor even leave her name and other details, still insisting that she was fine. What could we do? We had to let her go on her way.
But she came back within a few minutes asking if we had a first aid kit and showed me a small gash on her wrist where her watch strap had gouged in as she fell. It was bleeding quite freely, so I referred her to my supervisor who got a chair for her to sit on while the first aid manager came back with the kit. It was then that a large scrape was discovered on her elbow as well so while she was bandaged up, the first aider convinced her to leave her details and fill out an incident report.
These reports are very necessary, even if you think you're okay, because who knows? You may have bumped your head, or done some other kind of injury that won't immediately be apparent.
If the woman later falls unconscious, or has trouble with any of her limbs etc, the report is there to back her up. It's proof that she did indeed fall flat on her face, at the supermarket door, sometime between 1 and 2pm on Wednesday.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. She is so very nice and I really hope that she is okay, with nothing more than a scraped elbow and cut wrist. Maybe a little hurt pride.
We chatted as I bagged her groceries, she complimented me on my packing.
We smiled, I gave her the change, she turned and walked to the doors, I turned to the next customer.
Then I heard it.
Whump!
I turned toward the door and saw the sweet little old lady flat out face down!
I raced over and helped as she got to her knees, while my supervisor called the first aid attendants.
She kept insisting she was fine, had just tripped on something.
There wasn't anything on the floor to trip on, so I assumed she'd tripped on her shoe.
(it happens, I've done it!)
When the first aid attendants got to her, I went back to my customer, who hadn't minded at all that I'd rushed off like that. Really, I was only gone for less than a minute.
The woman didn't want to fill out an incident report, nor even leave her name and other details, still insisting that she was fine. What could we do? We had to let her go on her way.
But she came back within a few minutes asking if we had a first aid kit and showed me a small gash on her wrist where her watch strap had gouged in as she fell. It was bleeding quite freely, so I referred her to my supervisor who got a chair for her to sit on while the first aid manager came back with the kit. It was then that a large scrape was discovered on her elbow as well so while she was bandaged up, the first aider convinced her to leave her details and fill out an incident report.
These reports are very necessary, even if you think you're okay, because who knows? You may have bumped your head, or done some other kind of injury that won't immediately be apparent.
If the woman later falls unconscious, or has trouble with any of her limbs etc, the report is there to back her up. It's proof that she did indeed fall flat on her face, at the supermarket door, sometime between 1 and 2pm on Wednesday.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. She is so very nice and I really hope that she is okay, with nothing more than a scraped elbow and cut wrist. Maybe a little hurt pride.
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Your concern for her is lovely. I also hope she is OK.
ReplyDeleteIt is so frightening when these things happen. I hop you and she are OK.
ReplyDeleteIt's great she got a) 1st aid and b) an incident report. It's not always easy to get people to accept the help they need - and your post is a great reminder to report and record everything, just in case.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you all did the right thing. I'm sure she'll be OK and hopefully she'll pop in to assure you of that soon.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing scarier than being one minute on your feet and the next on your face (unless it's watching said event happen). It really knocks the stuffing out of you. Thank goodness there were caring people there to lend a hand.
ReplyDeleteAwww... why couldn't it have happened to one of your nasty customers?? Hope she is ok!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference from those who live by their slip and falls, and how refreshing. Hopefully, she stays fine.
ReplyDeleteEC; Mostly I'm concerned that she really is okay and also that if it was me, people would rush to help.
ReplyDeletechristinebv; welcome to drifting. I'm okay and I hope she is too. She didn't look at all fragile in spite of being elderly.
Red Nomad; it seems a lot of people just "don't want to be a bother". and that's a mistake in cases like this.
Kath; we try to help as much as we can, we're all unhappy when someone within the store is injured.
Delores; I know! I remember walking across a road once and suddenly I was down! My leg just buckled out from under me.
Happy Elf; it would never happen to a nasty cutomer. The devil looks after his own...
Rubye Jack; aka Towanda? Those who slip on purpose just to try and sue the company should be ashamed of themselves.
Now thats a lovely customer service story. What a Caring and kind team you got there. I myself am accident prone so I empathize with the lady.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite refreshing don't you think to have a reluctant customer rather than one who's faking it. You hear of so many cases of insurance fraud. I hope she's OK too. My daughter once had a stair fall that banjaxed her knee and didn't complain or make a report . . she should have, they might have paid for her knee recon.
ReplyDeleteJoni; we are often complimented by customers on how nice we all are, and of course we tell them the same right back.
ReplyDeleteBaino; show her this story and stress how important it is to always fill out an incident report. I remember a fall I had at 17, slipped on a steep flight of stairs and went all the way to the bottom on my bottom. Thought I was okay until several years later when the back troubles began and a doctor told me that was probably the cause.