Avoid Problems with Nursing Homes by Staying Out of Them: Slips and Falls in Winter Weather

To avoid nursing home abuse and neglect you should take steps to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible and avoid becoming a nursing home resident. Many residents were discharged from hospitals after treatment for diseases or injuries and sent to Maryland nursing homes because they couldn’t safely be discharged back home. A large number of the elderly are in nursing homes due to injuries from falls. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): 20% of falls result in a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury. About 2.8 million older people are treated in emergency departments due to fall injuries every year. At least 300,000 older people are hospitalized due to hip fractures each year, and more than 95% of these fractures are caused by falls. Given the danger of injury due to falls, the elderly should be especially careful when they go out during the winter when snow and ice increase the risk of falling. A study released in 2015 found that in Canadian winters, older people fall 20% more often after a freezing rain alert, according to Reuters. Authors suggest stronger cautions against going outside because the alerts actually mean something, especially for the elderly. The best option may be to stay indoors as much as possible for a day or two. David Buckeridge, the study’s senior author, states that for certain people bad weather “drastically increases their risk” of falling. Previous research shows that about half of all falls among the elderly occur outside. Researchers looked at emergency room data on patients in Montreal from 1998 to 2006. They looked at days with freezing rain alerts and those with snowstorm alerts. They had a total of about 136,000 injury reports for

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