Mom fell and hit her head but says she's fine: you still go, and here is what you write down

The night

By the night desk. Checked against the CDC and the National Institute on Aging, September 11, 2026.

She says she is fine. The CDC still says see the doctor right away. Here is the order, and what you write down.

Mom fell and hit her head but says she is fine. She is in the chair. She wants the keys back on the hook. This page is only about the head. It is not the first ten minutes of a fall on the floor, and it is not the appointment where a run of falls gets written into the chart. It is tonight, after a head strike, when her words are trying to close the subject.

The CDC's fact page says an older person who falls and hits their head should see their doctor right away to make sure they don't have a brain injury, particularly if she takes blood thinners, and notes that falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries for older adults. Right away is not the morning. Fine is not a test on that page. You do not argue. You go.

Do not argue. You still go.

The argument is the delay. She will say it was the rug, or that you are making a fuss. Family Caregiver Alliance's observation about people in her position is that most people, when asked if there is anything someone can do, reply that they are doing fine. That sentence is not a medical clearance. The CDC's caregiver brochure still asks you to tell a healthcare provider right away if your loved one has fallen, or if they are worried about falling, or seem unsteady. On a head strike, right away is tonight. Say one line and start moving. "You hit your head. We are going." If she will not get in the car, you call. You do not wait to see how she feels in an hour.

When is a head fall a 911 call?

If she is still on the floor, stop here and get down to her. The National Institute on Aging's instruction after a fall is that if you are hurt or cannot get up on your own, ask someone for help or call 911. The same page says getting up too quickly or in the wrong way could make an injury worse. Stay still first. Blanket. Lights on. Ask if anything hurts. Ask if she hit her head. Do not pull her up by the arms so she can prove she is fine. The full get-up order, if she is not hurt and can do it on her own power, is on the first-ten-minutes page.

911 tonight if she cannot get up, she is in pain, or you cannot tell. A head strike sits inside that last one more often than families want it to. You are not deciding what the bump means. If you cannot tell, you do not guess. You call. Tell the dispatcher the head in the first sentence. Then whether she can get up. If she takes a medicine that thins the blood, say the name on the box, not your theory of what it does. If she has been down a long time, say how long. Then do what the dispatcher says. If they tell you not to move her, do not move her, even if she asks.

She is already up. Do we still go tonight?

Yes. Up is not the all-clear. The CDC line does not say see the doctor if she could not stand, or if she is still bleeding. It says an older person who falls and hits their head should see their doctor right away to make sure they don't have a brain injury, particularly if taking blood thinners. Her saying she is fine is not the test.

Two doors, same night. You take her to the emergency department, or you call her doctor's on-call number and you say the same first sentence: she fell, she hit her head, here is the time, here is the medicine name on the box. Follow what they say. Do not trade it for a morning slot you like better. If she is not herself, say that and let them ask. You do not need a list of what "not herself" includes. You live with her. Say the phrase. Let the person on the phone do the rest.

This is not the morning call NIA describes for a fall with no head strike. That morning call still exists. NIA says to always tell your doctor if you have fallen since your last check-up, even if you did not feel pain when you fell. It is not a substitute for tonight when the head was involved.

What do you write down before you leave?

Write it on your phone, in this order, before the car moves. You are making a record. You are not making a diagnosis.

1. The time. When she went down, and when you found her. If she cannot say, write "unknown, found at" and the clock.
2. Where. Bedside, doorway, hall, bathroom, kitchen, steps. One word is enough.
3. What she hit. Floor, tub, nightstand, door frame, toilet, unknown. Ask her. If you saw it, write what you saw. Label a guess as a guess.
4. Which side. Left temple, right back of the head, forehead, she does not know. The side is a fact. What it means is not yours.
5. Whether she lost time. A gap she cannot account for. Write her words. "I was in the hall and then I was on the floor" is a sentence. "She lost time" is your summary. Prefer her sentence.
6. Medicines, by the name on the box, including anything that thins the blood. Copy the label. Do not write "her blood thinner" if the box has a name. Include the over-the-counter ones and the supplements. The CDC's caregiver brochure asks you to show a healthcare provider or pharmacist all of their medications, including over-the-counter medications and supplements. The names cannot wait for tonight.

If there is blood, write where, in ordinary words. You are not grading it. Take the note. If they ask a question that is not on it, say you do not know rather than filling the gap.

Someone stays tonight

After the visit, someone is in the house. Tonight that is you, or a named person with a key who is already on the way. NIA's fall advice includes arranging for daily contact with a family member or friend. Daily is not 2am. The phone goes on the mattress, because NIA says to keep a well-charged cordless or mobile phone with you at all times. The bathroom light stays on. The rug comes up. None of that replaces a person. If the emergency department sent her home, the stay is still the stay. Home is a location, not a finding that she can be alone. Other nights are the worksheet. Tonight you need a couch, or a hallway chair.

Tell her doctor even if they sent her home

The emergency department is not her doctor. NIA's instruction is to always tell your doctor if you have fallen since your last check-up, even if you did not feel pain when you fell, because a fall can point to a problem with medicines or eyesight that can be corrected. A head strike that has already been seen still belongs in her own chart, with the time, the side, and the medicine names.

Call in the morning. Take the note. If they ask what it is about: "She fell, she hit her head, we went in last night, I need it on her record." How to make a pattern of falls count in the room is its own page. If nobody called last week because she said she was fine then too, that date goes at the top of the same note.

Tonight

Before you sit down

• If she is on the floor: stay still, then 911 if she cannot get up, is in pain, or you cannot tell.
• If she is up: keys, note, car, or the on-call number. Not the morning.
• Write time, where, what she hit, which side, whether she lost time, medicine names from the boxes.
• Phone on the mattress. Bathroom light on. Someone stays.
• In the morning, her own doctor, even if last night already happened.

When to ask the care team or the doctor

What you say, and what you do not decide

Yours: the going, the note, the stay, the morning call. Theirs: everything the head strike might mean. You do not interpret the bump. You do not decide whether a medicine "counts." You hand over names and times. If she is not herself, you say that and you let them ask. In the morning, without fail, her doctor. If the night taught you that 2am has no person in it, that is a staffing fact, not a medical one.

If nobody is with her at night, that can change before the next bathroom trip. New Plan Care is an independently owned non-medical in-home care company that pays for a labelled slot on this site. Overnight presence in Ballwin, Chesterfield, Eureka, Glencoe, Grover, Pacific, Valley Park and St. Louis. New Plan Care, Call (314) 405-0887.Paid placement, disclosed on the front page and in the footer.

Next, when you can

• Elderly parent can't get up after falling: the first ten minutes
• Mom fell three times this month: the sentence to say to her doctor
• Should mom be alone at night after a fall? A plain worksheet

From the sources on this page

Right awayCDC: an older person who falls and hits their head should see their doctor right away, particularly if taking blood thinners. TBICDC: falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries for older adults. StillNIA: getting up too quickly or in the wrong way could make an injury worse.