Seniors are especially vulnerable to hip fractures, which can be a life-threatening injury. Hip injuries, including fractures, are most commonly caused by falls and by slip and fall accidents. Nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are expected to take extra precautions to reduce the risk of falls to ensure that these types of injuries do not happen.
If you have a family member who has suffered a hip fracture in a nursing home or other care environment, it is imperative that you ask questions. You want to ensure that your loved one gets proper medical attention which can save their life. You also want to ensure that it wasn’t negligence which caused the fracture. If recklessness played a role in the injury, you may wish to seek compensation to help your loved one get proper medical treatment.
Why Are Hip Injuries So Common And Dangerous?
Hip injuries become more common with age because in many cases bones become weak with conditions such as osteoporosis. In addition, medications, mobility issues and vision problems which can occur with aging can also make falls more of a risk. Unfortunately, combined together these factors can make hip fractures become common. When an elderly person trips and they land on their hip, breakage can occur.
Hip injuries for seniors can be especially dangerous for a few reasons. Because someone is elderly, they may have pre-existing conditions meaning it can take them longer to recover from a fracture. Fractures are also a very serious condition and injury. They may require surgical treatment, physiotherapy and even a hip replacement. All of these are treatments which carry their own risks. Recovery times are long and can be complicated, especially if someone has an underlying medical condition.
Preventing Hip Injuries
Nursing homes and assisted-living communities as well as retirement communities should be taking steps to prevent falls and hip fractures. This may mean adding bars in bathrooms envelope and along hallways so people with mobility conditions have extra support. Providing added supervision to help those who need help getting around can also help. Ensuring that floors are kept clear and have proper treads on them can help prevent slip and fall or trip and fall accidents.
What To Do If A Loved One Has Sustained A Hip Injury
If you have a family member who is in a nursing home, retirement community or assisted-living facility and they have sustained a hip injury, contact us at Flaxman Law Group to get a free accident consultation with a Hollywood nursing home abuse and negligence attorney. Our offices in Miami, Homestead, and Hollywood deal with hip fractures, nursing home abuse and neglect cases and other personal injury cases on a regular basis. Our compassion team has more than six decades of combined experience helping plaintiffs across South Florida. We can help you explore all your legal options as well as the resources available to you.