A fellow (age 80+ ?) had tripped and fallen onto the sidewalk,
just outside my storefront today. I didn't see it happen, but
I heard a small commotion. A handful of people were crouching
down to help trying to help him get comfortable. I ran back
into my shop and brought out a small couch cushion for his
head. He seemed to be bleeding quite a bit. I provided a
couple of towels too. While someone was on the phone with 911,
a younger lady stayed close to him keeping him talking. To me,
it looked like he may have smashed the side of his head and was
bleeding from the ear, but it also looked like some blood was
coming out of his mouth. Paramedicts arrived in about 8
minutes. Later, I provided a bag to dispose of the bloody
towels and cushion. After the fellow was carted away, some of
the bystanders cleaned the sidewalk of the blood. The fellow
had looked somewhat familiar, and indeed it was someone I knew
who would occassionaly come to the shop.

The fellow was in town with his wife (his wife was in another
shop). I hope they sorted out the logistics of notifying his
wife and both getting home later. I can only imagine how scary
it could be if your partner suddenly went missing and you
didn't know why. But fortunately in this town, people were
willing to track down his wife and at least let her know what
happened.

One of the bystanders told me later that the paramedics had
said that the accident wasn't serious. I imagine that he must
of fallen and broken his nose. Still.. not a pleasant journey
hitting the concrete like that.

The paramedics did not bother with masks. And.. I'm glad they
didn't show up in hasmat suits.

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

A fellow (age 80+ ?) had tripped and fallen onto the sidewalk,
just outside my storefront today. I didn't see it happen, but
I heard a small commotion. A handful of people were crouching

Wow, that sounds pretty intense.

I'm glad things turned out mostly okay, from what you say, and hopefully this is something where you don't get sued because it happened outside your building.

But those, "everything changes in an instant" moments are so scary, even when they turn out mostly okay. Bad enough when I do something like trip and fall while running (which I did pretty recently), where it's just an annoyance of things like a couple of skinned knees and a day or two of regretting going running.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Hello Adept!

** On Sunday 26.09.21 - 02:38, Adept wrote to Ogg:

I'm glad things turned out mostly okay, from what you say,
and hopefully this is something where you don't get sued
because it happened outside your building.

I think the sidewalk is the town's liability. Besides, I'm
only a tennant. The owner of the building is actually the
"club" the fellow belongs too! :/

Although the paramedics may have said "nothing serious",
judging from the amount and speed of blood that the fellow was
loosing, the consequences might be greater. And, he could have
also fractured a bone or two. For a paramedic, as long as you
can still breathe and talk then nothing is serious as long as
you can be patched up. :/

But those, "everything changes in an instant" moments are
so scary, even when they turn out mostly okay. Bad enough
when I do something like trip and fall while running (which
I did pretty recently), where it's just an annoyance of
things like a couple of skinned knees and a day or two of
regretting going running.

I don't run anymore when I need to get somewhere fast. I am
mindful of unnecessary pounding on my feet and joints, so I
glide or just walk fast without bouncing too much.


--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

I think the sidewalk is the town's liability. Besides, I'm
only a tennant. The owner of the building is actually the
"club" the fellow belongs too! :/

That seems positive, since your involvement now is just wanting the best for the poor man, then.

also fractured a bone or two. For a paramedic, as long as you
can still breathe and talk then nothing is serious as long as
you can be patched up. :/

Ah, yeah. I suppose if you're fairly used to seeing newly-dead people,
someone who can walk away is basically in tip-top shape.

I don't run anymore when I need to get somewhere fast. I am
mindful of unnecessary pounding on my feet and joints, so I
glide or just walk fast without bouncing too much.

Yeah. I was doing it because of trying to train to run 10.2k as part of a
group activity. I wound up not having to do it, which was nice. I _have_ gone running once since then, but while I feel like it's a skill I should kinda-sorta have, I'm largely okay being "active" without being particularly good at running.

In my tripping case, I had just slowed down, caught my foot on an uneven sidewalk joint, got a foot down and then flopped. Just a bit of unluckiness
on a combination of factors, but no real harm done.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Hello Adept!

** On Sunday 26.09.21 - 17:30, Adept wrote to Ogg:

mindful of unnecessary pounding on my feet and joints, so
I glide or just walk fast without bouncing too much.

Yeah. I was doing it because of trying to train to run
10.2k as part of a group activity. I wound up not having to
do it, which was nice. I _have_ gone running once since
then, but while I feel like it's a skill I should kinda-
sorta have, I'm largely okay being "active" without being
particularly good at running.

I think race-walking is a smart choice for people who don't
want that extra pounding on their joints.

In my tripping case, I had just slowed down, caught my foot
on an uneven sidewalk joint, got a foot down and then
flopped. Just a bit of unluckiness on a combination of
factors, but no real harm done.

In the past, I have messed up my footing when I get distracted
and "almost" trip and fall! But I have gradually learned to
stop and think before I turn, or step, or lift, or bend.


--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

I think race-walking is a smart choice for people who don't
want that extra pounding on their joints.

Yeah, I like walking most places, and tend to walk at an unreasonably fast
pace (or, as I like to put it, a normal pace, unlike all the slow walkers).

Gets the exercise, but not so much on the pain.

And I do kind of wonder how cumulative knee damage works. Thus far my knees have been pretty good, but it'd be nice to keep it that way.

In the past, I have messed up my footing when I get distracted
and "almost" trip and fall! But I have gradually learned to
stop and think before I turn, or step, or lift, or bend.

How reasonable!

I think I mostly just go, but I don't think I tend to be overly dangerous to myself.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

And I do kind of wonder how cumulative knee damage works. Thus far my knees have been pretty good, but it'd be nice to keep it that way.

I think it depends... the most likely I expect is cartilidge damage, which if you're careful will heal... cartilidge is after all a living thing and less dense that things like bone. Its basically working as a shock absorber. If
it gets a break and correct resources unless its really mangled it'll repair itself.

If you tear the cartilidge you've got a bigger issue. Depending on severity
you may have broken/rough surface on it, or worst case tear it from the bed
on the bone. In the former you can have your knee lock as you bend it, where the rough surfaces no longer slide over each other nicely. In the latter you either live with it, or they seem to open you up and just remove the
cartilidge altogether. Arthroscope off hand..

Only reason I know this stuff, is right behind Australian Rules Football, painting was the biggest industry requiring knee reconstructions, and early
on I noticed I was going to have to be careful with mine. If you have these kind of problems, anti-inflammatories will probably become your friend.

After that lot you can have ligament problems.. which basically means the
knee wil become loose... ergo you can pop it out or dislocate it, like a shoulder joint is common for. Or you can tear/rupture a ligament which is do not pass go, you require surgery to repair it, although if you're careful and not overly sporty you may be able to live with it, but watching what kind of stresses you put through it,lateral and/or twisting type motions become problematic.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: The future's uncertain, the end is always near. (21:3/101)

Only reason I know this stuff, is right behind Australian Rules Football, painting was the biggest industry requiring knee reconstructions, and early on I noticed I was going to have to be careful with mine. If you

Wait, _painting_? I imagine I could find a rationalization for that, if I thought about it long enough, but it's not an obvious thing to me.

After that lot you can have ligament problems.. which basically means the knee wil become loose... ergo you can pop it out or dislocate it, like a shoulder joint is common for. Or you can tear/rupture a ligament which
is do not pass go, you require surgery to repair it, although if you're careful and not overly sporty you may be able to live with it, but

My left shoulder is like that, due to a car getting in my way while going 30+ kph on a bicycle (downhill, through a (green) stoplight). Kinda annoying that it never really heals. I think it gets me pulled aside at airports, but those scanners seem to find random bumps kinda regardless of what I do. (but, thankfully, due to having paid to be treated like a human when traveling from/in the US, I normally get the metal detector instead).

watching what kind of stresses you put through it,lateral and/or
twisting type motions become problematic.

But, yeah, those issues in the knee... It's much harder to avoid using a knee than it is to avoid using a shoulder.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Wait, _painting_? I imagine I could find a rationalization for that, if I thought about it long enough, but it's not an obvious thing to me.

More commercial construction, think multi-story buildings... you get crawl around on concrete floors of dubious surface sanding stuff, getting bits of gravel, concrete chips all sorts of rubbish jammed into your kneecaps. While it might be a no brainer to say wear knee pads/protection. Back when I was involved, what was available was REALLY uncomfortable, and generally frowned upon in the workplace. EG: Harden up and get on with it. Plus if you're not careful also carrying fairly significant weights up and down stairs.

Used to be a weird rule if you were within 4 floors of your worksite you'd
be expected to walk it. Imagine carry 2x20l drums of paint up 3-4 flights of stairs... gets a bit harsh... by the end of my first year, both knees would click every step I made on a staircase... And last but not least you need to be careful waving around things like extension ladders, they can exert a fair amount of leverage over you... the weak point if not your back will tend to
be knees...

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: The future's uncertain, the end is always near. (21:3/101)

More commercial construction, think multi-story buildings... you get

Ah, okay, I suppose I would not have been overly surprised if you had said, "construction worker", because I've certainly heard plenty of stories about
how that's something that you better be in management by the time you're in your 50s, because it's hard on the body.

uncomfortable, and generally frowned upon in the workplace. EG: Harden
up and get on with it. Plus if you're not careful also carrying fairly significant weights up and down stairs.

It does seem like one of those things where bodies get used up, but only the body-haver gets the negative effects.

But I'm probably biased -- this is one of the reasons why I tend to think
that no one should play American football, too.

flights of stairs... gets a bit harsh... by the end of my first year,
both knees would click every step I made on a staircase... And last but

I think my knees have pretty much _always_ clicked, but not in any painful
way. But I'm guessing this is something different. And much less, "eh, that's just something your body does" than, "...when there's something messed up.".

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)