老人跌倒敢扶吗 卫生部发布《老年人跌倒干预技术指南》

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.