He was released to home after a negative CT. The indy aide feels terrible as this happened in the middle of the night. SO feels terrible that he was unsuccessful in persuading dad to return to the hospital to have the back pain that has increased at least checked out. Who knows, it might be a UTI symptom that contributed to the fall. But dad just says that if it's not better by Monday, he'll call his regular doc.
I told SO that really, this is a reasonable result. Their aide sleeps in a second floor addition. They prefer to communicate only by cell phone. Therefore unless a call is made when either one of them wants to get up, you can't expect the CG to be right there.
If he were in a facility, likely he'd still fall.
Communicating only by cell is kind of interesting, especially at his age. My 79yo mom often thinks her remote is her phone now so that wouldn't work for her. Does he have an alert bracelet/etc type of thing so that he can press the button if he has a true emergency? If he really needs help, he might not be able to use his phone? If/when my mom starts falling, I'm going to get her one.
Againx, it's just what you see with seniors all the time. They accepted that there needed to be help 24/7, but every time they don't they see it as an "independence" cookie--a sign that things maybe will get so much better that they will need less help.
The main thing though is that they are not "call don't fall" people even in the hospital and even with a nighttime aide. They have a bedside commode but don't use it for the same reason. The baby monitor would take away their choice to call the aide down only when they feel the need to call her.
For my very elderly aunt who forgets she can't really walk, we use bedrails and push chairs with tall backs against her bed at night (she can be quite the escape artist at 99.5 yrs old). It has stopped her from getting out.
I hope his back improves!