Elderly people who get stuck in the bath

BMJ 1994;308:1717 (25 June)

Letters

Elderly people who get stuck in the bath

EDITOR, - As a medical nonagenarian with bilateral hip replacements,I agree that it is often difficult and sometimes impossibleto get out of a bath unaided.¹ If I lie in a normal sized bathI am unable to get out unaided. Fortunately, however, my ownbath, which is old, is slightly broader than usual baths, andthis allows me to roll over on to my front, from which positionI can rise to my knees and then stand erect and step out ofthe bath.

What I cannot understand is why anyone should get seriouslyburnt or scalded in the bath. Surely it is dangerous to leavethe hot tap running when you are in the bath. It is common senseto test the heat of the water before getting into it; a thermometeris not required.

A M Campbell

Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 1LN.