For those of us who have to walk on ice and hardened snow, we know how careful we need to be to prevent a potentially disastrous fall. One way to stay safe while on ice is to use the slip on traction aids sold by various manufacturers. These have hard plastic and/or metal spikes that dig into the snow and ice.
While effective, these slip-ons are not always appropriate for use. For example, you can't wear them inside because they become a slippery danger on hard floors. So, if you're shopping and going in and out of various stores, it can be difficult to slip the spikes on and off. For some elderly people, this could be too difficult due to physical issues.
Now, the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in Canada is working on something else to help people stay safe while outside: Winter tire boots.
According to this CBC article, 'Winter tire' boot aims to thwart icy falls, this type of footwear would help not only seniors, but the young and healthy who could fall and end up with serious injury.
Would you wear boots like this? Do you think it's worth the money and time to put research into these things, or should people just learn to be more careful? What do you think?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Preventing Winter Falls
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1 comment:
What an interesting study and I do hope they come up with boots that work and that can be worn indoors and out (we put on those traction things for walks in the winter, but they are tricky to get on outside and they have to come off before we come in the door at the end of our walk). I worry about my elderly parents walking outside because my Mom had a fall on ice years ago and broke a bone in her shoulder and it was months before she was all better (and she still has some shoulder issues).
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