Staying Safe – No More Falls

By Mike Conrad, Division Chief Operations Aptos La Selva Fire Protection District

I am excited this month to write about the implementation of the “No More Falls” pilot program here in the Aptos La Selva Fire District.

In partnership with County of Santa Cruz Public Health and American Medical Response, the Aptos La Selva Fire District has kicked off the start to the No More Falls project. The goal of the project is to reduce the chance of falls in the homes of our senior population. Medical research supports what many of us already know, that after a healthy active older adult suffers a fall that results in an injury, their quality of life is often changed forever. From then on the patient may never become totally independent requiring in-home care or moving to a residential care facility.

The Center for Disease Control tells us that one out of every three adults over the age of 65 will experience a fall each year. Falls in this age group are now the leading cause of spinal cord injuries in the United States. Thirty percent of these fall victims will suffer moderate to severe injuries that include hip fractures, pelvic fractures, spine fractures and head injury. The premature death rate after a hip fracture is 25 percent within one year of the fall. In a 2010 study over 21,000 older adults died as the result of an unintentional fall injury.

Locally, one Santa Cruz County Hospital reported that 51 percent of all trauma related transports to the hospital were fall related and 72 percent of all trauma admissions to the hospital were the result of fall injuries.

With our ever-increasing older adult population these numbers will continue to rise not to mention the fiscal impact that accompanies these fall injuries. So we began researching this problem and developing ways to address it. The fire departments were identified early on as having educational models in place that could help. Fire departments have been doing fire inspections and public education for many years and adding fall prevention is a natural fit. The willingness of our local ambulance provider AMR to assist with this project was a welcome bonus.

The program is voluntary at no cost to the client. We are training organizations in our community that have interaction with older adults to make them aware of potential fall hazards. Once these hazards are recognized, they can recommend to the client to contact us for a home assessment. Family members are also encouraged to contact us. However we do expect that the client is made aware of and is agreeable to the home assessment. We hope that most of our clients will be from direct referrals and that people will call us long before a fall occurs.

The assessment is a combination of a brief medical history followed by an evaluation of the living environment of the client. We will do an evaluation of the interior as well as exterior of their home looking for potential fall and trip hazards. Often minor issues can be corrected on the spot while other more involved risk may need a professional to make corrections. Most assessments take an hour or less depending on the size of the home.

We hope that this project will make a difference in the percentage of falls in our older adults and allow people to remain healthily, active and independent for a long, long time.

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For more information on this pilot program in the Aptos La Selva Fire District at 831-685-6690 or to sign up for a home assessment please contact the Aptos La Selva Fire District at 685-6690 or email me at mikec@aptosfire.com.