Hi! David Bracka here from Bacchus Marsh Retirement Living, best known for running Victoria's friendliest retirement complex and this is the fifth part of safety series and what we are running for, the people siting behind for making falls in your own home. And we are in the living room, dining room area.
What's important here is to make sure that the floors are un-cluttered. Lot of floors that I have seen over time, people have had rugs on the floor, they are a slipping hazard, generally speaking, also cords. Cords run along the floor or tucked in corners and there is a lot of things going on in a room. They have got a heater, they have got footstool, they have got their coffee table as well. It is important to remove the favorite of excess clutter. That's very hard to do for a lot of people but please be aware of that.
The other things about the house, we want a sitting -- it's important to have access to things that you might need; your phone. Cordless phones are terrific invention and again it's cordless, there are no cords. Now when anybody rings, it always seems emergency, we must answer, we must rush to it and that's a predominant time when people have an injury because they get up and they rush around and forget all of their surroundings. So please be aware. Cordless phones, just carry it with you, you can get it with a belt buckle if you need and that's why they are just easily transportable.
When you are in, keep remote controls next to you, next to the couch wherever you are sitting so that you don't have to reach around and scrabble around for them. To intersect, please don't have radiant heaters next to you. I know that they keep you warm and you feel thirsty in winter but there are liabilities, they are danger and if you do have a full getting up out of the chair, you will land on it and you will burn yourself. The horrendous scene you will have is -- I don’t even want to go there. So get somebody to install a proper heating unit, reverse shackle the unit.
Be aware also in the house when you are walking around, footwear’s is another area that you have got to be aware of. Flexures is a -- that's easy for the bloats and the lighting, I know that's a bit of challenge, you know that they like the little bit of a heel but when you are wearing a heel, make sure that your foot is enclosed in it, the slip on shoes or slip on slippers even can be a hazard. So bear in mind that they are comfortable and that they do grip your foot, you are not sliding back and forth in them.
Common area for falls to have occurred is some dresses on ladies where the hems become un-stitched and they are too long or dressing gowns and nighties, they are classic. They got a rock down to under your heel and that is a huge hazard, you just step on it, you are walking forward and you bang it, toppled over. It only takes a second to have a fall and you know somebody once said, oh! I didn't worry about the falling, it was the landing.
So please be careful in your home. Take these tips, use them and make sure your glasses are clean as well. If you are wearing glasses, and that you have good access and your lighting is appropriate. You know, a lot of people save money by putting dimmer bulbs and things like that, it is really isn't a saving, in terms of your health.
So please be aware of those tips. That's couple of other things while I end here. Also if you have got the opportunity to have the cabins at head height, that's even better because you just have to reach in get what you need. Adjustable shelving in all the cabinets is also a terrific idea, easy to open cabins. The handles are really important, if you got those little tiny knobs or things you got to pull, you can suffer from hard to open cabins as well and that implies into the bathroom as well.
Try and get in a bathroom, the floor surface is different so wherever there is a change in floor surface, be aware of that, make sure it's steady and set steady and with your cabins as well, try and get some of the most common things you use, keep them stored in vanity cabin, you can get adjusta
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