There are approximately 1,800 fatal fall incidents in nursing homes every year in the U.S. Furthermore, up to 3.4 million falls are reported every year with up to 20% or 680,000 falls causing serious injuries, including broken hips, bone fractures and head trauma.
Nursing home fall accidents can be greatly minimized if proper preventive measures are implemented. Nursing homes may be found negligent and liable for falls that result in personal injuries or wrongful death to its residents for failure to implement or abide by industry standard protocols.
Common causes or contributors that can lead to nursing home falls or fractures include:
- Failure to implement a fall prevention program;
- Failure to fix broken equipment, such as wheelchairs;
- Failure to keep the aisles, paths, rooms and other walking areas clear from clutter;
- Failure to properly assess patient's risk factors;
- Failure to treat patient's underlying medical conditions;
- Failure to provide necessary physical therapy, walking programs and strength building treatments;
- Failure to install and provide anti falling devices such as grab bars in bathrooms, raising toilet seats, lowering bed heights, handrails in hallways and other equipment;
- Failure to properly medicate residents causing over medication and increasing side effects, including lost of balance and dizziness;
- Failure to install appropriate in room calling mechanisms to request help from staff for getting out of bed, bathtub, etc.
- Failure to provide adequate staff members to assist residents with getting out of bed, walking, toileting, etc.;
- Failure to train staff members with fall prevention techniques;
- Failure to treat injuries suffered as a result of a fall;
- Failure to alert family members of resident's fall.
You can reach Personal Injury Lawyer J.P. Gonzalez-Sirgo by dialing his direct number at (786) 272-5841, calling the main office at (305) 461-1095, or Toll Free at 1 (866) 71-CLAIM or email Attorney Gonzalez-Sirgo directly at [email protected].
