A week ago on Sunday I fell in my garage on concrete.
I tripped and was unable to get up. I understand those commercials for the life alert pendant when the woman shouts "help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" Hubby and granddaughter were not home as they left to pick up our dinner. Consequently, I sat on the floor for about 40 minutes till they got home. Our wonderful neighbor is a supervisor at Fire and Rescue and he and my daughter (who was called by hubby) were able to get me up. I was trying to make my way to the door into the house, but once I was able to crawl there, I realized I could not reach the door handle to pull myself up. Thank goodness for skilled and kind neighbors! I did go to urgent care the following Tuesday ( a week ago) and the X-ray showed no broken bones or fractures. Unfortunately, it could not evaluate whether there was any soft tissue damage. I am unable to raise my right arm on my own. I have, however, learned how to wash my face and brush my teeth with my left (non dominant) arm. 
lol. I will see my primary doc next Monday and think he will probably order an MRI. Please send positive thoughts that I will not need surgical repair of this arm/shoulder. Thank you DU friends.
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At least you didn't experience what an older friend told me - she was unable to get out of the bathtub even with the help of her home health aide, so the called the fire department (who succeeded). Now that would be embarrassing, but she was able to laugh about it... 
I look after my 93 year old mother, she's been stumbling a lot lately, scares me.
may take some time to heal, maybe not and the docs will know what to do if more is needed...
After this experience it's good thinking to get an alert device. Make sure that an agent or the communication system does what it claims in terms of services and response.
I've read that some cos. say the user's message will always be received 24/7 but they don't maintain enough personnel to fulfill this need which is vital in an emergency. All the best and take care.
PS Some people keep their cellphone attached to a lanyard/cord clip and loop it around their purse or neck so it's always handy to use. Some cellphone companies offer emergency assistance call features but I don't know the specifics.
