Slip and fall accidents in long-term care facilities can lead to significant injuries.
Individuals who make the difficult decision to move their loved ones into a long-term care facility like a nursing home expect its staff to provide them with a comfortable and safe place to live. But serious accidents can occur in even the safest nursing homes.
Although slips and falls can happen to anybody, these types of accidents are particularly dangerous for seniors. In fact, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) among Canadian seniors, four out of five injury-related hospitalizations were the result of falls.
Slip and fall accidents at nursing homes can be caused by a number of factors, including the management’s negligence. The facility’s staff are responsible for the safety of its residents. A failure to keep them safe can result in serious injuries, and even wrongful death.
If someone you love was injured in an accident in a long-term care facility, a Toronto nursing home accident lawyer may be able to help you seek accountability and restitution.
Our slip and fall accident lawyers can meet with you in Toronto for a free initial consultation. Call (416) 364-2000
Causes of Accidents in Nursing Homes
Injury-causing accidents in long-term care facilities can be caused by the negligence of its staff, property management team, or other parties. A failure to adequately monitor residents’ activities or implement appropriate safety measures can result in injuries.
Some seniors use mobility aids to help them move throughout their residence. If the nursing home’s floors are wet, slippery, or cluttered, these residents may be at greater risk of sustaining injuries in a fall. Uncleared snow or icy patches in a nursing home’s outdoor area could also easily lead to accidents resulting in injuries.
Unlocked doors inside the nursing home could give residents the opportunity to wander into restricted or hazardous areas. In addition, improperly supervised residents with cognitive impairments like dementia could even wander outside the facility, where they face even greater risks of injury.
Some residents of nursing homes may be prescribed medication that causes dizziness or lightheadedness. If a caretaker is aware that a resident’s medication could cause those side-effects but allows them to walk without proper assistance, the resident may be at risk of injuring themself in a fall.
These examples of negligent behaviours and others could all cause a resident of a long-term care facility to sustain serious injuries.
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Common Injuries Resulting from Nursing Home Accidents
In addition to being the demographic with the highest risk of suffering a fall, seniors are also the age group most likely to sustain serious injuries as a result of these accidents.
For Canadian seniors, falls are the leading cause of hip fractures. These serious injuries can lead to major complications and permanent immobilization. Additionally, per the Canadian Institute for Health Information (PHAC), 20% of the hip fractures sustained by Canadian seniors in a fall result in death.
Slip and fall accidents in nursing homes can also cause a senior resident to sustain broken or fractured bones. Per the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), simply because of their age, a senior’s fracture-recovery time may be substantially longer than a younger adult’s. In some cases, fractures sustained as the result of nursing home accidents may never properly heal.
Additionally, a slip and fall could lead to severe head injuries, including traumatic brain injury. Injuries to the head can be life-threatening or cause permanent neurological damage impeding a victim’s ability to communicate or move independently.
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Establishing Liability for Slip and Fall Accidents in Nursing Homes
The management and staff of long-term care facilities owe a duty of care to its residents. According to the Ontario Occupier’s Liability Act, property owners have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors on their premises.
If your loved one has been injured as the result of negligence in their long-term care facility, a Toronto nursing home accident lawyer may be able to help you pursue compensation. To do so, a lawyer may help you compile and analyze evidence that could illustrate how negligence at the long-term care facility resulted in an injury-causing accident.
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Contact Preszler Injury Lawyers Today
Unfortunately, accidents at nursing homes can happen to any senior resident, regardless of age or medical condition. If the negligence of a long-term care facility’s staff or its property management led to an accident in which you or a loved one sustained serious injuries, you may be eligible to recover damages. Call Preszler Injury Lawyers today at (888) 541-7603 for a free, initial consultation about the circumstances of your case.
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