Broward County Slip and Fall Injuries 2013 Analysis
Below is an analysis of falling injuries (slip and fall, trip and fall) in the State of Florida and especially in Broward County, Florida, for the week ending March 16, 2013. This information is being provided as a public service and has been compiled using governmental agency data.
Nationally, falls are injuries that remain a serious concern as millions of Americans are forced to seek help at their local emergency room after suffering harm in a fall.
Consider these facts:
- Falls are one of the leading causes of unintentional injuries in this country.
- In 2011, falls caused serious enough injury that falling accidents caused approximately 8.9 million visits to U.S. emergency rooms (2011 NSC Injury Facts).
- Each year, U.S. emergency rooms treat over 200,000 children (infants to age 14) for playground-related injuries.
- Falls are the second-leading cause of unintentional death in homes and communities.
- In 2009, over 25,000 died in the United States as the result of a fall.
- 50% of all accidental deaths in the home are caused by a fall.
- Age matters: adults over the age of 65 are at much greater risk of dying from a fall; studies show that a person 65 or older is 4 times as likely to suffer a fall fatality as any other age group.
- For people aged 85+ years, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death.
In Florida, an analysis of falling injuries was undertaken by the University of Florida using State of Florida Workers’ Compensation records. This study, involving only falls at work and fall injuries sustained on the job, found that:
- Falls accounted for nearly 25% of all serious disabling work injuries in Florida.
- Elevated falls (falls from ladders, scaffolds, etc.) accounted for 26% of the injuries in fruit and vegetable production occupations.
- Same-level falls (falls while walking or on work surfaces, etc.) accounted for 12%in both livestock and horticultural production occupations.
- In on the job work injuries, falls caused serious injury to the spine and back in the majority of cases.
- Most on the job slip and falls result in injuries involving sprains and strains.
In Broward County, Florida, the number of people dying from serious injuries they have sustained in falls has been increasing steadily for over two decades. Broward County deaths from falls – whether the falls were on the job, at home, or in a recreational activity like shopping or visiting a restaurant or movie theater, has risen 54% from the year 1990 to 2011.
Here are the tallies taken by the Florida Department of Health showing only those falls resulting in a death here in Broward County:
Sources:
National Safety Council, NSC Injury Facts (2011)
Centers for Disease Control (Falls – Workplace)
Centers for Disease Control (Falls – Older Adults)
Centers for Disease Control (Falls – Children)
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
University of Florida “Preventing Injuries from Slips, Trips, and Falls,” published as Circular 869, one of a series of the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published August 1990; Revised October 1992 and February 2001; Reviewed May 2006; Revised August 2008.
Florida Department of Health / Division of Public Health Statistics and Performance Management