A paramedic's role in reducing number of falls and fall-related emergency service use by over 65s: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Around 10–25% of emergency calls for adults aged over 65 are attributed to falls. Regardless of whether injuries are caused, quality of life is often affected by fear of falling, leading to reduced confidence and activity, negatively impacting mobility and risking depression and isolation. Ambulance service staff are well placed to identify falls risk factors so patients can be directed to falls prevention services. This article aims to determine how the referral by paramedics of uninjured falls patients to community falls services may reduce future falls and emergency services use. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=93c754e6-fdac-46d2-9a69-95fb0f3e91e0%40sdc-v-sessmgr03 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.29045/14784726.2021.6.6.1.46 Abstract published with permission