Your homes are your comfort zones where you feel protected and secured from all dangers. It is a peaceful place, far from strife and the madding crowd. Your houses are your sanctuaries. However, you are unaware that in every nook and cranny at home, a potential danger is waiting; but one room is the most dangerous of all!
The menace is not like the danger lurking in Stephen King’s opus or Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece. They are not even classified as dangerous as they emanate from the dynamics of a home.
You might suspect that the most dangerous place is the kitchen where an open flame is constantly burning or honed steel designed to cut are provided by sharp knives. Or it can be the utility room where an array of toxic cleaning chemicals can cause immediate death. Other places in the home are the halls and stairways which are prime tripping zones. It could even be the garage where you have auto and gardening chemicals and tools. The potential for danger lurks everywhere.
But the most dangerous place is the bathroom where eminent falls and slips are one of the leading causes of accidental death in the United States. This place is most conducive for peop[le to fall and slip.
Statistics in 2008 showed that the death of more than 19,700 older adults is unintentionally caused by fall injuries. For the elderly, falls ranks number one as cause of injury death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma are due to slips and falls.
The comprehensive report of CDC on the topic found that in 2008, about 234,000 people from age 15 and older required treatment in emergency rooms due to injuries happening in bathrooms. All in all, 14 % are requiring hospital admittance; and among adults from ages 85 and older, 38 % were hospitalized as a result of their injuries. It showed that four out of five of those injured were caused by falls, which older folks are most susceptible.
Records showed that 2/3 of emergency room visits were due to injuries in or around the tub or shower. These are due to wet floors and lack of traction. Remember that the most dangerous activities comprising all ages are bathing, showering and getting out of the bath or shower. It was noted that 2.2 % of injuries happen while getting into the tub or shower, but 9.8 % take place while getting out
The higher the age, the more risk injuries; although injuries in the bathroom are most common among those ages 15 to 24 and least common among those older than 85. People above 85 are injured more than half of time near the toilet.
Judy A. Stevens, an epidemiologist with the CDC and the lead author of the report stated that high incidence of injuries from getting on and off the toilet happened to people 65 and older.
She advised that grab bars be placed by the toilet which would be helpful for people in their older years, and everyone else. It would be great benefit to grab bars inside the tub or shower and in getting in and out.
Becoming a victim in your homes could be prevented. Every family member, both young and old must be educated about specific dangers. Being forewarn will reduce instances of injuries. CDC advised that accidents might be minimized modifying environment by installing grab bars inside and outside the tub or shower to reduce falls; adding grab bars next to the toilet for added support if needed and placing non-slip strips in the tub or shower.
For a safety reasons, add grab bars in your bathroom so you can consider this a safe place to be.
Link – http://www.mnn.com/family/protection-safety/stories/whats-the-most-dangerous-room-in-the-house-0