"How to fall to your death and live to tell the tale" Topic

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Falls are one of life's great overlooked perils. We fear terror attacks, shark bites, Ebola outbreaks and other minutely remote dangers, yet over 420,000 people die worldwide each year after falling. Falls are the second leading cause of death by injury, after car accidents. In the United States, falls cause 32,000 fatalities a year (more than four times the number caused by drowning or fires combined). Nearly three times as many people die in the US after falling as are murdered by firearms.

Falls are even more significant as a cause of injury. More patients go to emergency rooms in the US after falling than from any other form of mishap, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly triple the number injured by car accidents. The cost is enormous. As well as taking up more than a third of ER budgets, fall-related injuries often lead to expensive personal injury claims. In one case in an Irish supermarket, a woman was awarded 1.4 million euros compensation when she slipped on grapes inside the store.

It makes sense that falls dwarf most other hazards. To be shot or get in a car accident, you first need to be in the vicinity of a gun or a car. But falls can happen anywhere at any time to anyone.

Spectacular falls from great heights outdoors like the plunge of the Moreno brothers are extremely rare. The most dangerous spots for falls are not rooftops or cliffs, but the low-level, interior settings of everyday life: shower stalls, supermarket aisles and stairways. Despite illusions otherwise, we have become an overwhelmingly indoor species: Americans spend less than 7 per cent of the day outside but 87 per cent inside buildings (the other 6 per cent is spent sitting in cars and other vehicles). Any fall, even a tumble out of bed, can change life profoundly, taking someone from robust health to grave disability in less than one second.

A person you are familiar with is most likely to be the cause of your fall.

interesting, thanks!

When will the government do something about this gravity problem?

Gravity? Hah.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Having become a fall risk person of late I much appreciate this information.

You won't so much see it as feel it.

A few years ago I had ankle fusion surgery. I was off my feet for about 2 months. We live in a tri-level and I was going up and down the steps on my butt.

Up was no problem, but getting to the floor at the top of the steps to go down was a real issue. First time I tried it, I got to within 2 1/2 feet of the floor when gravity took over and I arrived with a bounce. After that I used a step ladder to slow my descent.

Interesting article

Made me look up the window washer they were talking about. Lost his brother while he survived. Despite his loss, he is a very lucky man.

Sorry, no. If you fall to your death, you are dead. If you have a fall, no matter how serious and it doesn't kill you, you didn't fall to your death.

I usually cause my own falls, thank you.

Gravity? Dude, that's heavy!

@Terrement: "Sorry, no. If you fall to your death, you are dead. If you have a fall, no matter how serious and it doesn't kill you, you didn't fall to your death."

Perhaps Martin means "mostly dead"? :)

YouTube link

Dan

Perhaps Martin means "mostly dead"? :)

Martin didn't write the sentence that Terrement is commenting on. The author did.

Very true. The magazine editors are the ones who typically come up with those "catchy" but ridiculous lines.

Dan