Inpatient and Hospital Slip and Fall Accidents

Most slip and fall accidents result in a hospital visit. One would imagine that hospitals and inpatient facilities would have the highest levels of safety. Several organizations that study slip and fall accidents have reached the same conclusion about poor safety in hospitals. When someone slips and falls in an inpatient facility or hospital, most attribute the accident to the patient’s condition. The common belief is that when people are ill or recovering from an injury or surgery, they are more likely to fall.

Physiological Versus Environmental Factors

Changes in how Medicare views slip and fall accidents is casting a clearer focus on hospitals and inpatient facilities. The medical and legal fields have known for decades that slip and fall accidents are far too common. However, hospitals and inpatient facilities often attribute such falls to physiological factors. Hospitals, nursing homes, and similar businesses often deal with patients coming out of surgery.

When patients fall, there is a tendency to view it as unavoidable and fails to account for the environmental factors that play a role. Environmental factors include spills on smooth surfaces, clutter, torn carpet, chipped tile, and other elements that could cause a person to lose their footing. When someone slips and falls in a non-medical location, people automatically seek the cause outside of the person injured. When someone slips in a medical facility, there is a greater inclination to blame the person and their physical condition.

Slip and Fall Accident Studies

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now consider any trip and fall a preventable accident. This comes on the heels of studies by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Liberty Mutual Research Institute, the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), and the National Safety Council. Each organization conducted studies related to slip and fall accidents. The BLS reports indicate that workers in a healthcare facility face a 90 percent higher risk for slip and fall accidents compared to the combined figures of other industries. Liberty Mutual found that the number one factor in these accidents are floor spills. The NFSI determined that over half of the slip and fall accidents in healthcare facilities involved problems with the floor. The National Safety Council points out that falls are the second-leading cause of early mortality in homes and communities.

Camden County Slip and Fall Lawyers at DiTomaso Law Help Healthcare Slip and Fall Victims Seek Justice

When someone enters a healthcare facility in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, the law states that they have a reasonable expectation of moving about the public areas safely. Inpatient facilities are always responsible for patient safety and they must keep floors clear and clean for both their patients and the public. When anyone suffers because of the negligence of another, they have a right to seek fair compensation. DiTomaso Law fights to help those who have fallen victims of healthcare negligence. Contact us online or call 856-414-0010 to speak with a Camden County slip and fall lawyer now.