Philadelphia’s nursing home facilities and numerous hospitals are attempting to spearhead the task of keeping our elderly loved ones safe. Nonetheless, slip and fall accidents can be especially dangerous, and in some cases even catastrophic to elderly people. For example, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death for individuals 85 years old or more, and the second leading cause of injury-related death for those 65-84 years old. Moreover, 87 % of all bone fractures sustained by individuals over 65 years old occur from fall accidents. Without question, our elderly generation is at a far greater risk for severe injuries from falls, which is why there are currently such a substantial amount of nursing homes and elderly care facilities across the nation.
The following list of statistics is placed here to help demonstrate how serious fall accidents can be for elderly individuals, and how important hospital services, and nursing homes are today: 
- Each year in the U.S., one in every three persons 65 years or older will experience a fall, half of which are repeat fall victims
- 67 % of fatalities in falls are individuals 75 years or older
- Falls represent 40 % of all nursing home admissions and are the 6th leading cause of death for individuals 70 years or older
- CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) claims 1.8 million people over 65 years old have been treated in emergency rooms for falls
- The incidence of falls increases significantly with each decade of life.
Philadelphia Hospital & Nursing Home Fall Accident Lawyers
Pennsylvania is among the U.S. states that allow victims and/or their families to pursue personal injury lawsuits against negligent medical care facilities. Often times, these injuries can cause substantial medical costs, as well as extremely painful emotional costs. With the assistance and counsel of an experienced slip and fall attorney, victims have the best chance of securing necessary financial compensation. Compensation for each individual is based on a large variety of factors, including future and current medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Nursing Home Accidents
As we can see, nursing home patients are clearly more at risk for serious injury in slip and fall accidents, therefore, nursing home staffs must be cautious, and thorough, in maintaining a safe residence for their patients. Regrettably, in more than just a few nursing homes, these devastating accidents still occur. In fact, The National Floor Safety Institute stated that nearly 60 % of all nursing home residents fall each year.
Many slips, trips, and falls for nursing home residents could have been preventable, especially because these facilities are supposed to be increasingly safe for residents. For example, in most U.S. nursing homes, potential residents will be given a detailed risk assessment before living there. The results of which will be used to determine the risk level associated with the specific patient, taking into account their prior history of falls, and specific medical history. Therefore, if nursing homes fail to implement extensive fall prevention strategies, such as accurate risk assessments, they will likely be held liable in the event of a fall accident. If individuals would like to further explore who is liable in a specific slip and fall lawsuit or would like to evaluate other frequently asked slip and fall accident questions, click here.
Common Causes
- Spilled liquids, debris, trash, impeding walking surface
- Understaffing: lack of adequate support for all patients
- Lack of proper lighting
- Defunct or non-existing bedrails
- Broken wheelchairs
- Inadequate bed height: too high or too low
Hospital Slips, Trips, & Falls
Hospitals, emergency care facilities, and local medical clinics have the shared goal of providing health benefits and paths of recovery for injured individuals. Most medical care facilities in the city of Philadelphia are no exception. They strive for extensive quality service, and caring well- trained employees. Some of the most important characteristics that Philadelphia hospitals must exhibit in their facilities are immaculate cleanliness, proper resource management, and extensive organizational and communication techniques.
When all hospital employees aren’t in-sync, or on the same page, there are likely to be a far greater number of accidents, and problems in their facility. In order for a hospital to maintain a safe environment for their residents, and visitors, their employees and volunteer staff must effectively implement accident prevention protocols. For instance, employees must clean up spilled liquids immediately, warn patients of hazardous conditions, and limit clutter buildup. If a hospital doesn’t actively attempt to prevent slip, trip, and fall accidents, in the event of an accident, they are likely going to be found liable for an individual’s injuries.
The following list of statistics was inserted here to help emphasize how significant slips, trips, and falls are in hospitals:
- Fall accidents accounted for 21.3 % of emergency room visits in recent years
- Fall accidents are the primary cause of lost days of work
- 22 % of fall accident victims missed 31 or more days of work
- Fractures or severe head trauma occur in 20 % of fall accidents
Contact An Attorney
The personal injury lawyers at The Philadelphia Law Firm are proud to serve all slip and fall injury victims in the greater Philadelphia area. Our experienced team of attorneys has valuable prior experience assisting slip, trip, and fall victims. In many cases, they have helped victims to secure sizable settlement offers or winning court verdicts. We feel that our combination of experience, expertise, and care and compassion for our clients would be useful to all victims. Take the first step in your legal process by calling our 24/7 help hotline today, and schedule a free legal consultation to see how our expansive team of lawyers can best assist you and your family.