Just recently Paul Daniel Frehley, known as “Ace” Frehley, cofounder and lead guitarist for the legendary band KISS, passed away. He was only 74 years old. He died following complications from a fall. This is very sad news for me. KISS was my very first rock concert. I was in the sixth grade. I had tickets in the third row of the Richfield Coliseum. I failed to wear earplugs and protect my hearing, and I couldn't hear properly for probably a week after the concert. I love the band KISS. I always have. I am saddened to learn that Ace recently passed away preventing the band from ever performing together again.

His death reminds me how dangerous falls are for older people. Here at The Dickson Firm, we get calls almost daily from families whose loved one has suffered a fall in a nursing home. It is very important to understand how dangerous falls can be. Elderly people have a 50% mortality rate within one year following a fall with serious injury. This means that if an elderly person suffers a fall, that results in serious injury, there is a 50% chance they will not survive a year.

There are many things that happen when somebody falls and suffers a serious injury. If someone suffers a fracture, and they have to have surgery, there are always risks that go along with surgery. The reason that doctors and hospitals insist on a series of tests prior to surgery, is to make sure the person is healthy enough to endure the surgery, because surgeries are traumatic. The patient has to be put under. Just the very experience of being knocked unconscious is a risky procedure. Further, many orthopedic surgeries are very traumatic. Often, bones have to be removed; sometimes they have to be cut; often orthopedic devices have to be inserted to repair the damage done from the fall. One of the most common injuries that occurs when a person falls are hip fractures. When a person falls to the ground, their hip naturally sticks out. If it makes contact with the ground, often their femur breaks. This is the largest bone in the body. A fractured femur is a very serious injury.

We also see many residents who suffer head injuries when they fall. We see residents who suffer injuries cause they hit their head on something hard, and suffer a physical injury. We also see residents who suffer a closed-head injury, meaning that their brain impacts with their skull inside their head, causing brain damage.

Even if the resident comes through the surgery successfully, they are now immobile. Whereas, before they were able to walk around, they're often now forced to be in bed for an extended period of time. This increases their risk for pneumonia. It also increases their risk for skin breakdown. Often a person who is able to get up every day, reposition themselves in a chair, reposition themselves in a bed throughout the night, suffers a fracture, and suddenly finds himself immobile, dependent on the staff of the nursing home to turn and reposition them. If they are not turned and repositioned every two hours, they can develop skin breakdown. If that skin breakdown is not addressed, it can absolutely be fatal.

Once an older person suffers a fall, they are subject to a whole number of risks, many of which can be fatal.

The key is to make sure that your elderly loved ones do not fall. If they are residents of a nursing home, and they are at risk for falling, then you have to have a detailed discussion with the nursing home and find out what their plan is for keeping your loved one safe. Nursing homes are legally obligated to give their residents adequate supervision to prevent accidents. If the resident is at risk for falling, then they should not be permitted to walk around unattended. In order to do this, the nursing home will have to know if they are trying to get up. Many nursing homes use alarms, including pressure alarms, which sound if the person begins to get up and takes pressure off a pad, that's under the seat of their chair, or under them in a bed. Some alarms have strings that clip on their clothing and attach to a magnet, that then attaches to a base. If the magnet is pulled off the base, the alarm sounds. Nursing homes use motion detectors. There are many ways to find out if a resident is trying to get up.

Some nursing homes will tell you that alarms are restraints and they do not use them because they are restraints. This is simply untrue. An alarm is in no way a restraint. The nursing homes may argue that the alarm startles the residents, or scares them. Your question should be, have you ever tried an alarm with my loved one? Have you ever used an alarm with my father, or my mother? Were they scared? Show me. The fact is that many nursing homes do not use alarms because alarms document their lack of staffing. Alarms document their substandard care. If you have a case where a resident started to get up and the alarm went off, and the staff did not respond immediately, this is usually an indication that the nursing home is understaffed. This is usually an indication that there simply are not enough people to provide proper care to the residents of the facility. Nursing homes can only make a finite amount of money. Once all the beds are filled, they cannot increase their gross revenue. The only way to increase their profit at that point, is to reduce their costs. The largest item on any nursing home budget is staffing. So, nursing homes often replace their RNs, the most educated, and most experienced nurses in the building, with LPNs, who have received less education, and as a result, nursing homes can pay them less. They often replace LPNs with STNAs. The STNAs receive very minimal education. An STNA can take a two week course and get certified as a state tested nursing assistant. They cut the overall amount of staff to save money and increase profit, leaving the residents vulnerable.

If someone you love is in a nursing home and they are at risk for falls, the nursing home should be able to articulate for you their specific plan for keeping your loved one safe. If they cannot tell you their specific plan, then you should seriously think about moving your loved one to another nursing home where they will be safe.

Falls are very dangerous for elderly residents and account for many, many deaths every single year. If your loved one is older, you must do everything you can to protect them from
falling.

If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW, as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.

To learn more about nursing home abuse and neglect in Ohio, please read:

Four Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

How Long Do I Have to Bring a Claim for Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect in Ohio?

3 Critical Questions to Ask Your Cleveland Nursing Home Injury Lawyer

Falls in Nursing Homes