Collier County Injury Prevention Coalition – Focus on Falls Prevention

About 50 Community Leaders from more than two dozen Southwest Florida organizations, including McKenney Home Care, have come together to brainstorm ideas for preventing injuries from falls.
“If you take one thing from this meeting, it’s that falls are not a normal part of aging,” said Mark Tesoro, analyst and educator with the Lee County Trauma Services District at Lee Memorial Health System. “It’s a symptom of something else.”
Collier County’s emergency medical services responded to 4,300 calls last year related to falls, officials said, and someone dies in Southwest Florida every three days because of injuries from falling. Sixty percent of falls happen at home, 30 percent happen in public places and the other 10 percent occur at health care facilities, according to Tesoro’s presentation.
Three categories of factors contribute to falls: behavioral, such as wearing poor footwear or drinking alcohol while taking medication; physical, such as muscle weakness or prior injuries; and environmental, such as rugs, spills, stairs and pets, Tesoro explained.
See full article as reported in the Naples Daily News.