Fall-off-ladder Month

The Canadian Institute for Health Research reported an important new finding: November is fall-off-ladder month. Time to head outdoors and fall off your ladder.

The National Post provided some important background. I have to remember to be careful hanging those Christmas lights.

In Ontario, 8,366 people visited an emergency room in the year 2004-05 after tumbling from a ladder, according to data compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Research. “That’s almost one person per hour every day of the year,” said Margaret Keresteci, manager of clinical registries for the institute. “That’s a lot of people going through ERs every year.”

There’s no reason to believe the statistics in other provinces are any different, she said, as Canadians rush to complete property maintenance before the onset of winter and perhaps prepare for the glittering holiday season. The majority of accidents — 66% — took place in the home, the study found, and the majority of the injured — 82% — were men.

Autumn was the worst time of year for ladder disasters, accounting for 3,211 of the hospital visits, with emergency room trips peaking at 903 in November. Bone fractures made up 73% of the injuries treated. In 2002-03, 16% of patients required overnight admission to hospital.