Unfortunately, many elderly or physically disabled people are what is termed a “fall risk” in their medical chart. In other words, many people are known to be at risk of falling. Now, for those not familiar with those who are fall risks, they may not realize the significant danger injury when a fall occurs. This is not a situation where a person is falling down and they are already in good physical condition and they are able to break their fall easily. Instead, somebody who is a fall risk is very likely to not be able to break their fall in any way. Very serious head trauma, broken bones, broken hips, and other injuries occur when people who are a fall risk are allowed to fall. These falls are very often completely preventable.
In fact, if the simple guidelines that are set out by the medical professionals are followed, most people who are fall risks will not suffer from falls and will not suffer serious injuries. Where somebody is allowed to fall and suffer a serious injury at a nursing home or a skilled nursing facility, it is often a sign of neglect on the part of the facility. This negligence is preventable. Oftentimes, bringing an Arizona elder neglect injury claim for this type of incident will not only provide a measure of justice to the person who was hurt and their family that trusted this facility, but will force the facility to follow proper guidelines and prevent injuries to other people from occurring in the future.
If you or anybody you know has suffered a fall at a skilled nursing facility and you have questions about what rights you may have, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We are happy to provide you the information that you seek so that you can determine the best path to pursue any claim or, whether it is in your family’s best interest to choose not to do so. The first step, however, is to gather the information and get the answers from an Arizona personal injury lawyer with experience helping people in nursing home abuse cases.
