The American population is aging. With advances in modern medicine and more initiatives to push people to lead healthier lives, New Mexico residents and their fellow citizens throughout the nation are living longer; sometimes into their seventies, eighties and beyond. As such, more and more people are finding that, as they age, they require some assistance to get through their daily lives, and as a result, more people are moving into nursing homes than ever before.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that in 2003 there were around 1.5 million people over the age of 65 living in American nursing homes and there will be double that many in the same age group in such homes in 2030. More people moving into nursing homes, coupled with the prevalent dangers that often pose risks to residents in nursing homes’ care, lead to many preventable incidents in such facilities, including falls.
The CDC estimates that between one out of every three and one out of every two nursing home residents experience a fall each year. It is not uncommon for a nursing home to have twice the number of falls as it has beds in a given year. And just under 2,000 people, on average, die each year in nursing homes due to falls.
Falls happen for many reasons, but often they may be traced back to negligence on the part of the nursing home that was responsible for the injured individual’s health and safety. Residents of nursing homes fall when they are improperly supervised, when the buildings in which they live are poorly lit or maintained, and when they are not adequately restrained while being moved from one place to another.
There are many steps that nursing homes can take to prevent falls by their residents, but it is not uncommon for a facility to have multiple fall complaints lodged against it. Readers who have concerns about the safely of their nursing homes are encouraged to talk to personal injury lawyers in their areas about the harms they have suffered.