Wadsworth Fall Injury Prevention Device

Barbara Wadsworth, DNP, RN, FAAN, and Chief Operating Officer of Main Line Health, is the inventor of the Fall Injury Prevention Device (FIPD). Falls in hospitals and clinics are inevitable, but that does not mean they have to be damaging. Most falls occur when a patient is out of sight of a care giver. One of the most common places for a fall to occur is in the restroom of a hospital or health clinic. Injuries and death due to falls are an issue that every hospital in the world faces. An estimated 1 million falls occur in North American hospitals annually.

The increasing age of the US population all but ensures hospital costs associated with falling incidents will increase in the future if more robust injury-prevention measures are not put in place. This unique fall-prevention device easily can be used in any hospital bathroom or patient room and will reduce the need for supervision during toileting activities, thus improving patient safety. With the Wadsworth Fall Injury Prevention Device, hospital fall-reduction programs will no longer have to focus solely on preventing a fall, but also could help patients avoid injury in the case of a fall.