| Trying to hurry through the office supplies store, | | | | It was quickly confirmed through x-rays that Marsha |
| Marsha was loading up her shopping cart with needed | | | | had broken her wrist and she was given some |
| items to restock her home office. Because it was the | | | | medicine for pain and sent home to rest until she could |
| middle of December, the store was crowded with | | | | be seen by a surgeon and surgery could be scheduled |
| many people who wanted to take advantage of | | | | for her to repair her wrist. |
| budgeted monies set aside for office items that they | | | | This story illustrates just how quickly a person can fall |
| wanted to spend before the end of the year. Marsha | | | | without any warning whatsoever. Each year people |
| was thinking about the holiday shopping she also | | | | suffer from falls like this one that was due to ice |
| wanted to accomplish at the mall located across the | | | | outside and many take place inside the home for |
| street from the office supply store. As she filled the | | | | various reasons. Sometimes these reasons are |
| shopping cart with extra envelopes, ball point pens, | | | | preventable with just a little forethought and particularly |
| address labels, and a toner cartridge she also made a | | | | senior citizens should be aware of some ways to |
| mental note that she needed to take care of ordering | | | | protect themselves from falling in the home.o Throw |
| printer ink refill supplies. She had found this to be an | | | | rugs should never be used because they are a hazard |
| effective way to save money the previous year and | | | | that can cause a person to fall particularly if they have |
| she felt good about doing her part to reuse and | | | | no rubberized backing on them. It was stylish several |
| recycle in a small way. | | | | years to have many of these around the house, |
| Unfortunately, as Marsha made her way out to her | | | | especially in the bathroom, but they are not worth the |
| car, she slipped and fell on a patch of ice that she did | | | | risk of causing a fall.o Shoes that fit improperly or are |
| not see and literally landed almost completely on her | | | | not constructed for the inclement weather upon going |
| right side. As a passerby helped her to her feet, she | | | | outside can also cause a fall. Shoes that have a tread |
| felt a tremendously sharp pain in her arm and her right | | | | on the bottom can help a person gain an advantage |
| leg was hurting also. The person who had stopped to | | | | by providing traction when walking on the ice or |
| help her stayed with her as she tried to determine | | | | snow.o Steps that have no hand railings also create an |
| whether or not she was really hurt. She and the kind | | | | environment that would make a fall easier to happen. It |
| lady came to the conclusion that Marsha should | | | | is important especially for older people to have |
| contact her husband who worked nearby and he was | | | | something very sturdy to grip when attempting to |
| there within minutes to take her to the nearby hospital. | | | | maneuver a flight of steps. |