This Spring, Let’s Talk About Fall Prevention

How do we keep from falling?

We all fall! That is a fact of life for our being bipedal creatures. Kids fall the most, but rarely are hurt; there’s a reason, which I’ll get into shortly.

What I write here will be a bit different from others. I have had a lot of training in falls, and in fall prevention as a safety professional. My training in how to fall comes from my parachute training and judo. So, here are some tips.

Fall Prevention: how do we keep from falling? In the safety profession, we have a “hierarchy of controls”.

• Elimination/substitution: In conditions conducive to a fall (like freezing rain/ice), simply don’t go out into it.
• Engineering controls: Change walkways that are slippery to ones that are not, and provide handrails for people. Provide grab bars in bathroom tubs/showers.
• Administrative controls: Provide warnings, such as signs saying, “slip/fall hazard” where appropriate.
• Personal Protective Equipment: If on you are on a slippery surface use footwear with anti-slip characteristics. Wear a bicycle helmet.
• Finally, Points of Contact: On slick surfaces, always have two points of contact. That would be a hand and foot on the ground, or two feet. Mountaineers use three points of contact to climb vertically. Hiking poles can work well as a point of contact for one or two arms.

Now, how to minimize injury from a fall? In parachuting and judo, we trained hard. But you can do a lot to minimize the potential for injury by following a few simple ideas.

First, don’t reach out; that transmits all the force of the fall to one very small area, magnifying the force and leading to broken bones. Instead, pull in elbows and wrists to your chest.

Second, your body follows your head. Falling forward looking like “Superman flying,” you will land on your arms and face. Instead, tuck your head, you will roll and distribute the forces along a much greater part of your body sequentially. Tucking the head helps keep your head from touching the ground too! Hit and roll on the soft parts of the body (muscles, not bone). That way, the hard parts, which may break, the hands, elbow, shoulder joint, knee and foot, won’t be affected as badly.

Hopefully, these simple measures can prevent or at least minimize the effects of a fall.

By John C. Ratliff. Ratliff has worked in the safety, health and industrial hygiene areas for over 40 years (now retired). He is also a former judo in Korea, and then participated on the Oregon State University Judo Team, and an USAF Pararescue Specialist and Master Parachutist (1967-77). He is a member of the Beaverton Committee on Aging. Learn more about the BCOA at www.BeavertonLibrary.org/BCOA.