Lynnwood students shine lights on fall-prevention program

Published 1:30 am Thursday, January 26, 2017

LYNNWOOD — Kids understand the value of night lights.

A little bit of light can scare away darkness and keep people safe, no matter their age.

Students from Martha Lake Elementary School in Lynnwood this month donated more than 460 night lights for Shine a Light to Prevent Falls. All donations went toward Fire District 1’s falls prevention program. Paramedics and firefighters plan to hand out the lights to older adults who have fallen in the past.

“People think falling is a natural part of aging, and it’s not,” said Kristen Thorstenson, community resource specialist with the district.

The district responded to 170 calls in the last month where someone was hurt because of a fall. In all, falls constituted 81 percent of the district’s total injury calls in the last month.

“No one wants to talk about it,” Thorstenson said. “It’s the best kept secret that shouldn’t be.”

About 260 people are enrolled in the falls prevention program. Thorstenson and community paramedics make home visits to check in on people at least every few months.

She suggests people keep their floors clutter free. Though pets may be good for one’s mental health, they can get under foot, she said. Re-evaluating eyeglass prescriptions and medications are important. Bodies can change over time and affect how well prescriptions work.

Thorstenson and the fire district’s community paramedics also check smoke detectors and introduce people to “files of life,” a refrigerator magnet with a pocket that holds information paramedics need during an emergency. The files include emergency contacts, life sustaining treatment information and a list of medications. That way, paramedics don’t have to search the home for prescription bottles before treating a patient.

The home visits make some people uneasy.

“They’re afraid we’re going to move them from their home,” Thorstenson said.

Older adults have told her they didn’t fall. It was a trip or slip.

Thorstenson promises to keep them safe in their home for as long as they can. If that means handing out night lights, that’s what they’ll do, she said.

Classes at Martha Lake Elementary School turned the Shine a Light drive into a competition. The two classrooms that collected the most night lights were promised a tour of the fire department.

A parent told the district that the competition was pretty “cutthroat,” district spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.

Students attached letters and hand-drawn pictures to each night light.

A girl named Stacey wrote, “I gave you this night light to keep you safe. We appreciate you being in our lives.”

Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com.