78-year-old female resident ("Resident 6") - participant had a past medical history of Parkinson's Disease, low BMI and frequent falls who was on hospice care in addition to the fall risk factors noted above. Additional fall mitigation strategies included use of a pressure alarm on bed and wheelchair. In the very early morning hours, an unwitnessed fall occurred while wearing the smartbelt in her room. It was believed that the resident was attempting to make her way to the restroom from her bed, lost her balance and fell sideways very quickly onto the floor. The smartbelt deployed the airbags and sent alerts to the care team. Upon assessment, a minor injury of an elbow scratch was discovered. She was helped to her feet and returned to bed. The Memory Support Director in the unit reported her belief that the smartbelt "saved the resident's hip."
During the 23-month time period after implementation, there were 2 incidents of airbag deployment not related to a serious hip-impacting fall. The first incident occurred when a participant with dementia became agitated, wriggled out of the smartbelt, and tossed the device across the room. The second incident involved a participant, described by staff as being a "fidgeter," slipped the device past their hips, leading to airbag deployment as the device fell to the floor. Neither of these incidents resulted in participant injury. Lastly, staff at the center did not report any instances of participants sustaining a fall which resulted in a major hip injury.