Author: Stan Michaels, MFA, DOH Injury Prevention Coordinator & Public Health Educator

  • Be Proactive to Prevent Falls

    Falls are the most common cause of unintentional fatal injuries in Hawai‘i, averaging more than 101 senior incidents each year. Falls are also the state’s leading cause of non-fatal injuries, resulting in nearly 27,000 emergency room visits and 2,600 hospitalizations each year. Over 8,000 seniors over 65 are transported by an ambulance to an emergency…

  • We Have To Stop Falling…!

    Senior fall injuries are serious and deadly. One senior will be taken to the ER every hour — for injuries from a fall. Many of these patients will die or never return home to resume a normal life. The pity is that most falls are preventable. As we age we lose muscle strength, reaction time…

  • Fall Prevention

    There I was, the Hawai’i State Fall Prevention Coordinator, fallen, spread eagled, with a dent in my car door in the shape of my own forehead. It happened so fast, one second of inattention and I was flat on the ground. And to make matters worse, I had just left the quarterly meeting of the…

  • Five Ways Not to Fall

    Falling down is nothing new. We have been doing it all our lives. We fell as infants, as kids, as teenagers and even, awkwardly, as adults. The price for an active, healthy life has been an occasional fall and normally it is no big deal. When young and strong, you fell and “bounced” right back…