Avoiding a Fall

How do I make my home fall-proof?

Many slips, trips and falls happen in or around the home. Keeping an eye out for potential hazards can make your home a safer place. Making some simple changes around your home can make a real difference. Here are our 3 top tips:

1. Rugs and mats at the top or bottom of the stairs are a trip hazard and can easily lead to a fall, so it's a good idea to move them out of the way.
2. Install a night light near the bed to make sure if you wake up in the night you can see where you're going. You can install a motion-activated light that comes on as needed. 
3. Remove trip hazards like trailing wires, clutter and rugs. Also, try and avoid glass furniture as it can be harder to see and may cause a stumble. 

How to utilise prevention monitors and personal alarms to prevent falls?

Personal alarms

Personal alarms allow you to call for help, for example, if you’re unwell or have a fall and can’t reach a telephone. Pressing a button on a pendant or wristband you wear all the time will alert a 24-hour response staff member reducing the likelihood of a vulnerable person attempting to move without help themselves.

Mats and Pads

Mats and pads allow key workers to monitor the activity of a vulnerable user. The idea is to alert the carer that the monitored user is attempting to move from the alarm location, this could be a chair / bed or any designated area that a mat or pad could possibly be used. Both pad and mat come as two options:

• Wired - Typically cheaper in price but keep in mind that if the wires are not correctly hidden, possibility of introducing a further trip hazard are increased.
• Wireless - In most cases, wireless is more expensive. The reason for this is the increased safety aspect of no wires to trip over and also it means it can easily moved around a house or room. As in most cases wireless runs on battery and so each may have a variable battery life but you will be warned with a low battery alert.

Infra red sensor

infra-red sensors are used in a similar way to mats and pads. The idea behind them is to monitor a bed / chair or even a door way or section of a room. They do this by emitting a controlled invisible infra red beam which can be positioned so that when the beam is broken the monitor will trigger an alarm. Again this can be supplied in two ways:

• Wired - Typically cheaper in price but keep in mind that if the wires are not correctly hidden, possibility of introducing a further trip hazard are increased.
• Wireless - In most cases, wireless is more expensive. The reason for this is the increased safety aspect of no wires to trip over and also it means it can easily moved around a house or room. As in most cases wireless runs on battery and so each may have a variable battery life but you will be warned with a low battery alert.