New technology prevents dangerous falls
King5 News had an informative article about new technologies that will help prevent falls and injuries in people at risk of falling. This is great news for nursing home residents if corporate owners actually spend the money to provide these innovative technologies. Falls are one of the leading causes of hospitalizations and deaths in nursing home residents and most are preventable if the facility has adequate staff, proper training and supervsion, and provide assistive devices and other preventative measures. Most occur when residents are in their rooms, unattended by staff. This system takes the first of its kind approach in alerting staff before a fall happens.
The article mentions just a few of the new technologies available to nursing homes. State of the art technology is changing the way nursing homes operate. Inside one Louisiana Alzheimer's facility, each room is equipped with a fall prevention system. "We have a 'smart' system, which is a computer system that will learn, actually learn patient movement and activity," said Neal Rider, Guardian House CEO.
Each resident has an individual profile that determines their risk for potential falls. If they are categorized as a "fall risk," the computer and motion sensor devices will monitor their every move in bed and alert the staff if anything is abnormal. "The unauthorized bed exit is coming in and you can see an individual getting out of the bed. It identifies where the person is in the building and where other individuals and staff members are located throughout the building," said Rider.
"Our residents each have one of these that they wear on their wrists, when they do a bed exit, the computer has programmed that that's an unauthorized move, it will alert us," said Kathy Richards, Guardian House. Then a nurse will (hopefully) immediately speak to the resident through the room television. Often times, a simple reminder to stay in bed is all it takes.
