A Ministry of Health guide telling people how to help elderly residents if they fall in the street has stirred controversy with people arguing that it is a lack of trust that prevents them helping, not a lack of medical knowledge.

The 41-page guide, available to download from the ministry's website, advises people who see old people fall "not to help them up in a hurry, but to observe and inquire about their health conditions first and then act accordingly."

The guide says that in many cases their help could lead to more serious problems from elderly people suffering bone fractures, strokes or heart disease.

Accidental falls have become the main cause of deaths of people over the age of 65 in China, with more than 40 million elderly people falling down at least once a year, the guide says.

It advises dialing 120 for medical help if people see someone on the ground unconscious. And if the person is conscious, it says they should ask why and how they had fallen before taking any action.

But there was derision online with posts saying the guide could only be effective if people were willing to lend a helping hand in the first place.

They said the government should focus on re-establishing social trust as the top priority after a series of cases across the country where people trying to help were instead wrongly accused of causing the accident. Some old people even tried to sue people who rushed to their aid.

發(fā)現(xiàn)老年人跌倒時(shí)應(yīng)該怎么辦?衛(wèi)生部6日公布的《老年人跌倒干預(yù)技術(shù)指南》提出:不要急于扶起,要分情況進(jìn)行處理。

指南提出,如老人意識(shí)不清,在場(chǎng)者應(yīng)立即撥打急救電話。有外傷、出血,應(yīng)立即止血、包扎;有嘔吐,應(yīng)將其頭部偏向一側(cè),并清理口、鼻腔嘔吐物,保證呼吸通暢;有抽搐,應(yīng)移至平整軟地面或身體下墊軟物,防止碰、擦傷,必要時(shí)牙間墊較硬物,防止舌咬傷,不要硬掰抽搐肢體,防止肌肉、骨骼損傷;如呼吸、心跳停止,應(yīng)立即進(jìn)行胸外心臟按壓、口對(duì)口人工呼吸等急救措施;如需搬動(dòng),應(yīng)保證平穩(wěn),盡量平臥。

事件背景:

8月26日,江蘇南通,一位騎三輪車(chē)的老人被撞受傷,客車(chē)司機(jī)殷紅彬下車(chē)攙扶老人,卻被其一口咬定是被他的客車(chē)撞倒,警方通過(guò)調(diào)取監(jiān)控錄像才還了殷紅彬一個(gè)清白。

8月28日,湖北武漢,騎電動(dòng)車(chē)的胡師傅途經(jīng)漢口合作路與鄱陽(yáng)街交叉路口時(shí)好心扶起一名摔倒的八旬婆婆,卻反被賴(lài)稱(chēng)是被其電動(dòng)車(chē)撞倒,目擊路人紛紛為胡師傅作證,民警多方調(diào)查,胡師傅方才驚險(xiǎn)脫身。

9月2日晨,同樣是在湖北武漢,李大爺?shù)乖跐h陽(yáng)區(qū)的知音西村菜場(chǎng),菜場(chǎng)人來(lái)人往,卻沒(méi)人敢去扶他一把,一小時(shí)后李大爺離開(kāi)了人世。