Over 700 people die each year from falling down stairs in the U.K.

Emmia

housebuyer143 said:

It's probably equally safe to shuffle drown on your bottom so if you did somehow slip from this position you wouldn't go very fast or far. You can at least see what's coming that way and may get a few less stares in public.

Shuffling down like this would also make it easier to stand up at the bottom as your feet and body would be in the right orientation. 

But if you have real difficulties, perhaps it's time to consider a stair lift, moving to a bungalow, or flat all on one level, or not using the upper floor(s) of your house.

Section62

theoldmiser said:

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Re "and the outcome if they had been crawling down the stairs rather than walking normally would be largely the same," I don't think that's likely at all. For example, if you have a stroke while walking down the stairs normally, then you would probably fall and could die when you hit the bottom.

I think you missed the point.  In a proportion of those 700 deaths there will have been a significant medical event immediately prior to the fall.  That medical event may not be survivable, but the cause of death (for statistical purposes) will likely be attributed to injuries sustained in the fall, rather than the medical event itself.  If the same person had the same medical event while doing something else - like laying in bed - then the death would likely be attributed to the medical event itself.  In effect some of what you are deducing from the statistics is erroneous because without a deeper analysis of the data you can't be certain which of the deaths could be prevented by some alternative method of using stairs - vs the conventional method which human beings have been doing for millennia.

The same applies to motor vehicle accidents.  Someone having a catastrophic and fatal medical event (heart attack/stroke etc) whilst driving and colliding with something (even where not involving other people or vehicles) will be classified as a motor vehicle fatality.  Whereas the 'common sense' cause of death would be the heart attack / stroke etc.

As FreeBear alludes to, grabbing hold of one statistic and using it out of context can lead to unsound conclusions.

theoldmiser said:

If you have a stroke, or faint, or your leg gives out, while crawling down the stairs, you will just collapse ON the stairs, your hands will already be on the stairs, so your torso will fall about a foot onto the stairs and you will stay there. You can't fall down any further. You can't seriously injure yourself.

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I would disagree with that.  I'm not going to suggest anyone tries it at home but, depending on the steepness of the stairs and other factors, it is quite possible to continue falling down stairs if you aren't in a state where you can control your movement.

Alanp

Well I’ll never fall downstairs at home as I live in a bungalow, you could invest in a stairlift, the mil rents one on a yearly basis 

WIAWSNB

I imagine that the vast bulk of these stair falls are down to a lack of care being taken - holding on to the rail for stability, watching where your feet are going, wearing appropriate shoes/slippers, or just becoming too casual about a simple process you likely carry out a number of times per day. Or to vast bulk.

We've taken to carrying our dawg up and down t'stairs as it has almost fully lost its sight. I am very aware, when descending, that I cannot see my feet as a result, so take extra care, or even run my shoulder down the stairwell wall for stability.

As you get older and more infirm, you just need to take extra care. And then buy a bungalow...

housebuyer143

WIAWSNB said:

I imagine that the vast bulk of these stair falls are down to a lack of care being taken - holding on to the rail for stability, watching where your feet are going, wearing appropriate shoes/slippers, or just becoming too casual about a simple process you likely carry out a number of times per day. Or to vast bulk.

We've taken to carrying our dawg up and down t'stairs as it has almost fully lost its sight. I am very aware, when descending, that I cannot see my feet as a result, so take extra care, or even run my shoulder down the stairwell wall for stability.

As you get older and more infirm, you just need to take extra care. And then buy a bungalow...

Most likely. I fell down my stairs the other day, but I did so because I had something in both my hands, and wasn't holding on. I thought at the time if I had been older I would have done some serious damage. 
Always use the hand rail.

RedFraggle

Imagine the tube in rush hour! 
Elderly Mum has a stair lift and I live in a flat due to disability related unsteadiness. 

Albermarle

housebuyer143 said:

WIAWSNB said:

I imagine that the vast bulk of these stair falls are down to a lack of care being taken - holding on to the rail for stability, watching where your feet are going, wearing appropriate shoes/slippers, or just becoming too casual about a simple process you likely carry out a number of times per day. Or to vast bulk.

We've taken to carrying our dawg up and down t'stairs as it has almost fully lost its sight. I am very aware, when descending, that I cannot see my feet as a result, so take extra care, or even run my shoulder down the stairwell wall for stability.

As you get older and more infirm, you just need to take extra care. And then buy a bungalow...

Most likely. I fell down my stairs the other day, but I did so because I had something in both my hands, and wasn't holding on. I thought at the time if I had been older I would have done some serious damage. 
Always use the hand rail.

My OH did the same and actually somersaulted down the steep stairs and cut her head open, with the evening sat in A&E.
Another potential scenario is rushing down the stairs to answer the phone, or similar.

Brie

Not sure why so many people think that a fall must be attributed to a medical event.  I've not actually fallen down the stairs but come close a few times - usually when I've been carrying laundry so can't see my feet and can't hang on the rail.  There were 2 choices - stop doing laundry or get a basket that can be easily carried with one hand.  As much as i'd love the first I did, out of necessity, go for the second.  

And continuing on about medical events - it's could be a chicken and egg situation I think.  Did the person fall because of a heart attack or did tripping and falling cause the heart attack?  

twopenny

Friend of mine fell down a whole flight of stairs and landed not having spilt a drop of her glass of beer.
So it's not always fatal.

Looking at the figures seems the most dangerous place is in hospital. After that the home.
And the most dangerous age seems to be55-68 , would that be because we think we are still just as agile as when we were young perhaps because after that you start paying attention.

strawb_shortcake

Brie said:

Not sure why so many people think that a fall must be attributed to a medical event.  I've not actually fallen down the stairs but come close a few times - usually when I've been carrying laundry so can't see my feet and can't hang on the rail.  There were 2 choices - stop doing laundry or get a basket that can be easily carried with one hand.  As much as i'd love the first I did, out of necessity, go for the second.  

And continuing on about medical events - it's could be a chicken and egg situation I think.  Did the person fall because of a heart attack or did tripping and falling cause the heart attack?  

I don't think falling or tripping is a trigger for a heart attack. 
I've slipped down the stairs loads, usually attributed to being in socks, or inappropriate slippers.
Not knowing the breakdown of the ages of people dying from falling down the stairs, I imagine those are typically older and may either be frail or have preexisting conditions.

For those younger (and older) it's probably less about the fall and more about the landing and hitting your head in an unfortunate way