It may seem like just another clumsy moment, but slip and fall injuries can be serious and even deadly. Falling is one of the leading causes for injury among children and older adults.
Every day, about 8,000 children visit the emergency room with a fall-related injury, the CDC reported. That’s nearly 2.8 million children per year.
To protect your children, follow these tips from the CDC:
1. Check playground equipment to make sure it’s properly designed and has a soft landing surface below.
2. Use safety devices in your home like second-story window guards, stair gates and guard rails to prevent your child from a dangerous fall.
3. Your child may not like the way protective gear looks when he or she is playing sports, but make sure they always wear a helmet, wrist guards and knee or elbow pads when appropriate
4. If your child is playing around stairs or on a playground, supervise them at all times.
The CDC also reported that more than 19,700 adults over 65 died in 2008 from an unintentional fall injury. Most of these falls turn deadly when the individual suffers a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, which accounted for 46% of all fatal falls in 2000.
If you are over 65 or have a loved one who is, share these tips from the CDC with them:
1. Exercise regularly. Exercises that focus on increasing leg strength and improving balance are especially helpful if their difficulty level is increased over time. If you are unable to perform strenuous exercise, try a Tai Chi program, which is gaining popularity with older adults.
2. Ask a doctor or pharmacist to review all medications you take so you’ll be aware of any side effects that could cause you to fall, like dizziness or drowsiness.
3. Get your vision checked at least once a year by a doctor and make sure your prescription stays up to date. Glasses with single vision distance lenses can help your vision while walking outside, and the better you can see, the less likely you are to fall.
4. Improve your home’s safety by reducing tripping hazards, installing grab bars in the bathroom and keeping all areas well lit.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a slip and fall accident, call personal injury attorney Ken Nunn.
“When you are hurt in a slip and fall accident, the insurance company may try to give you a tiny check. If the insurance company offers you money, how will you know it’s fair?” asks Ken. “We’ll go after every dollar you deserve – every dollar.”
For more information, call 1-800-CALL-KEN or contact us today.
Whether we are in another vehicle and struck by a motorist or legally utilizing our Indiana roadways as pedestrians or exercise enthusiasts; we are at risk and by being out there we are trusting that the other guy on the road is doing his best to make sure we all will make it to our destination alive and intact. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
One of the vehicles involved in the head on collision was a commercial flat bed truck registered in another state; can that affect the legal status of the case? It may indeed, and that is another reason why if you are involved in a car or truck collision of any sort in Indiana you should seek qualified legal representation in a timely manner. Think of it this way; you wouldn’t wait days or weeks to seek medical attention, why would you wait days or weeks to seek legal representation.
Elizabeth Eckland, 29, of Fort Wayne, was hit by a car while crossing the street in the 2000 block of South Anthony Blvd. early Monday morning. Police found her lying in the grass on the side of the road with blood coming out of her left ear.
