It’s perhaps your biggest nightmare: you or an aging loved one falls, no one is around to notice, and dire consequences then follow. If this is a scenario you dread, you’re not alone. A new report out from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has documented that fatal falls among seniors have risen 31% since 2007. In 2016 alone, nearly 30,000 people over age 65 died as a result of a fall. So this is a serious public health hazard and a serious concern for families whose loved ones are unsteady or prone to falling. Further, given the multiple medications that seniors often take, the risk of falling is elevated depending on the kind and mix of medications taken.

How can catastrophic falls be proactively prevented? The CDC has a comprehensive website called STEADI that provides info on such topics as safety precautions and exercise for building strength. There have also been technology-driven approaches to decipher the risk and reality of falls. One new product on the market is called MyNotifi. While consumer and professional reviews are not available, the product does seem to do away with the need for the person to push a help button and Bluetooth technology allows for multiple people to be alerted when there is a fall. Whether proactive or reactive, it’s critical that you have in place safety measures and detection systems to lessen the likelihood of a fatal fall.