The risk of falling increases with age and declining muscle function reduces the ability to get up. If an older person is unable to get up off the floor after a fall, the risks of any fall are far greater because of the complications that can ensue from lying on the floor for a long time—for example, pressure sores (often exacerbated by unavoidable incontinence), carpet burns, dehydration, hypothermia, pneumonia, and even death. The high proportion of seniors not transferred to the hospital, the inability to get up has a poor prognosis in terms of injury and recovery following a fall. Lying on the floor for a long time is thus one of the most serious consequences of a fall. Read more Getting help after a fall improves the chance of survival by 80% and increases the likelihood of a return to independent living.