After a fall, the immediate goal is medical treatment and follow-up. But at the same time, you can take steps that make a later legal review far stronger:
- Ask for the incident report and request the date/time the report was created.
- Request the fall risk assessment and care plan in place before the fall and any updates made afterward.
- Document what the staff told you (even if it changes later).
- Preserve communications—emails, letters, discharge paperwork, and rehab instructions.
- If the facility uses cameras, ask about video retention and request preservation promptly.
In Alabama, these cases often turn on what the facility knew before the fall and whether reasonable steps were taken to reduce risk. Early preservation matters because records can be revised, supplemented, or inconsistently produced.


