This thread is dedicated to safety when caring for loved ones in the home please add any good ideas or links that will help others recognize how important this issue is in caring for someone with a disease such as Alz., Dementia, LBD ect.
Even if your not sure of diagnosis its better to be safe than sorry.

Preventing Falls link:

http://www.ec-online.net/Knowledge/Articles/falls.html

Safety checklist:

http://www.ec-online.net/Knowledge/Articles/safehome.html

Keep all medicine out of reach from children and loved ones you are caring for.
If your loved one is on medication do not entrust them with this responsibility it is in most cases asking too much of them. You must monitor this yourselves and medicate them at proper times.
As with most things that will be mentioned it is a good idea to keep things locked up. If you have a pantry put a locking door handle on it so that only you can access it. If this is not possible an extra closet/linen closet is a good idea to set up for this, also with a locking knob. Place all meds and sharps (knives pins razors tweezers ect) Clean out medicine cabinets of most things loved ones have access to if it is a shared bathroom with others, get little rubbermaid containers that will house each with toothpaste and Tbrush and their own personal things they use each day. Have them store this in their bedrooms and placed back when they are through grooming in the morning and evenings.
LO's bathroom time needs to be monitored and not left on their own as most accidents happen in the bathroom.
I love cleaning but please refrain from waxing floors with your LO's. Another thing if you use spray dusting products on furniture, stainless steel sprays in kitchens, please go over the floors with a mop after you are finished as this is a fall hazard of epic proportions.

Slippers for LO's is an important issue too, when they have trouble with their gait please purchase booties with anti skid bottoms do not give them step ins make sure they fit the entire foot so they dont kick them off while walking.
Post your great ideas!

Addendum:
Here's a link to a comprehensive home safety and security checklist:
http://www.agis.com/Document/13/home-safety-and-security-checklist.aspx

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Moms_Buddy,

Dutch door, My mother was so determined notning stopped her.If I would have thought to get a dutch door things would have been different.

Mae, What a great idea on the door! My girlfriend had one in her kids playroom and when we went down it was great. I was able to let Dan play in there without getting out and at the same time keep an eye on him and the twins to make sure they were not killing each other. That would have been great in mom's roaming days to keep her in the room. SHe use to try to climb over the baby gates that I had. I stacked one on top of each other so they were high but you know how strong they can be when they want out.

Aaah a Dutch door Ok gotcha.

I believe the type of door mae is talking about is the type found in horse barns. Remember the show "Mr Ed"? The top half of his stall door opened while the bottom half could remain closed. I loved that show.

Mae do you mean for like bedroom doors and such?
If so they sell hinges that replace the ones on doors to allow it to open all the way so you dont have any portion of the door in the way

If I had to do it all over again I would purchase a door that can be open all the way or half way, like the door in a horse stall

About 10 years ago, my Dad had Grab Bars put in their home. Towel Racks were really not in the way here, being eye level, not hand level. But I can see disaster if one were grabbed.

My Mom's home is 3 level. After an outing with my Dad and facing a trip up the first flight of stairs, he said to me, "your brother gets behind me, and holds my belt to boost me if I get wobbly".

My Brother is 8" s taller than me and a lot stronger. After finally getting him up the stairs, (sweating up a storm) I laid down the law. He get a stair lift installed, or I was never taking him out again, He would have to wait for Bro. It was NOT going to be this way again. It scared the bejeebers out of me. I thought we would both end up at the bottom of the stairs, with my poor Mom stepping over us to get to the phone to call 911. NEVER AGAIN. EVER.

In 2 days, he had this done. Without the lifts, Mom would not be able to stay there, now. I could not cope. Multi level homes are a deal breaker for the elderly. If it weren't for stair lifts she could not be there. She couln't afford them now with the major reduction in pension. So glad they were put in place then.

If you have any chance to plan ahead, please do. Dad wanted her to be able to stay there. But if Grab Bars, and stair lifts hadn't already been installed, we would have had a huge problem on our hands. No way Mom could handle a flight of stairs now.

Good idea SA this is why all towel bars came out of my MIL's bathroom she tore them off the wall herself pulling on them and I ended up replacing them with hooks instead grab bars were installed around the toilet and shower

In addition to installing grab bars in bathrooms, I read an article that suggested REPLACING towel bars with grab bars, even if you're still hanging towels on them. Many people reach for towel bars if they fall, but towel bars can get ripped right out of the wall, adding another potential injury. A grab bar won't come out of the wall.

I have another little add on here folks...
I have to purchase something to prevent night time wandering and have looked at many "gates" now whether they are baby gates that attach to the wall or are installed with pressure I have to say I have read much on them from consumers and Im not at all pleased with anything out there. And they can be expensive. Some even have alarms on them but if your LO is the least bit strong they just wont keep them in.
A while back I came across a nifty idea on another site (I really wish I could give her props for this but I just cant remember if you know post )
She went to a hardware store and purchased those elastic bungee cords placed eye hooks in the wall and made a "gate" of sorts to stop her wandering LO you can add a "Stop Sign" to this on your LO's side she said they seem to understand this.

When my husband and aunt went through stages of restless sleeping we had a special mattress on the floor.It prevents some injuries.With hubby , in the beginning I put a regular mattress on the fllor by our bed as he was having nightmares and would fall out of bed.For both I kept the bed down as far as it would go.I also put the bars used on youth beds under the mattress on his side of the bed.Big help.That was before we got the hospital bed.Also got special bumper pads for the hospital bed to prevent him from hurting himself and being able to grab hold of the bars to get out.I now have a stock of pillows to prevent him from getting his legs and feet stuck in the bars .They work great.One thing that can prevent one from getting out of the bed is to raise the bottom of the bed.also great for elevating the feet andand pulling the under sheet up with them.You also have to lower the head all the way down.In the care facilities if one has the tendency to get out of bed they have them sleep on a mattress on the floor.In one I saw they had a special rope like gate across the door to prevent the afflicted from wandering from their room alone..Until I got the correct meds for my mother , nothing could keep her in bed.She never ceased to amaze me.Her need to go home was so great nothing stood in her way.Many times I would sleep in the bed next to her instead of having to run up and down the steps.Then she would want to talk all night.I recall being so tired I agreed with anything she said.

Well another update to safety is here.
Since I know the majority of us use hand sanitizers on a daily basis I think it is a very good idea to post this warning if you have young children in your household or visiting children after all they do get into the darndest things now dont they?! Seems a little girl got into the Purell mom had and ingested some requiring an ER visit.
Snopes.com reports it....
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

That reminds me of a yr ago when I would go out of the house & leave my 9 yr old home, "the chef" w/grams.

Grams thought she was "babysitting" but actually the 9 yr old was watching over her. He had my cell & I could be home w/in 5 mins.

She did the oddest things but my biggest concern were the toaster & micro.

There used to be a lady on my meals-on-wheels route who had one of those signs on the front door that said, "Never mind the dog, Beware of owner" and had a picture of a handgun. EVERY TIME I knocked on that door, I thought, "Oh Lord, I hope somebody had sense enough to take that gun out of the house." Her house had a swimming pool as well. She lived alone, no family except a nephew, and I worried all the time about that poor lady.

I only saw her once a week, but nearly every week she needed help feeding her cat because "somebody switched my can opener with this new one, and I don't know how it works." (It was clearly an older opener, and I'm fairly certain that her "old" one didn't involve turning the can upside down on top of it.)

Dogs dish with prunes, sorry had to laugh.Wonder what the dog was thinking

Sometimes it's not the obvious that causes danger. I had a toaster-oven and one day I saw a little fire inside. My husband had forgotten how to use the knobs and had put it on 'oven' instead of 'toast' and then left and forgot about it. I bought an old-style pop-up toaster w/out all the bells & whistles--better to avoid burning down the house. Then there was the day I found the dog's food dish full of prunes. It's a never-ending 24/7 eyes-always-on responsibility--even when you're trying to sleep!

When you have one with a mental disability you have to go back to removing things as you would a toddler.My mother never used things on her body but everything in her room would cast a shadow that would cause her to become frightened and thus want to destroy it.Even the thingie on the ceiling that was used for her swag lamp.So I removed anything that would cause her fear thus removing all that could cause her harm.Everything all of you have stated is on the money.Sad , the ones who taught us what would do us harm are the very ones we return the favor.

Although it's not a safety issue, I need to add valuables. Jewelry, money, ckbk, credit cards.

Mom loved wearing long nighties prior to her illness. Once she began having difficulties walking I was able to convince her to where jammie pants & tops. Plus it made bathrooming much easier.

Things that should not be in the hands of our LO's

Qtips (can damage delicate ear drum)

Diabetic testing needles (purpose, picking hazard)

Sewing items- scissors, needles/pins, seam rippers

Razors-straight razors/blades and shaving razors, box cutters/knife

Glass-bottles,hand held mirrors, vanity trays, glass in picture frames (replace with thick mill plastic) figurines/vases (nice for tossing and breaking in a fit if within reach) Dishes and glassware (should be replaced with corell and or plastic)

Picture hangers (replace with 3M hangers)

Toothpicks, both plastic and wood

Emery boards (they do a great job at filing skin away) Nail cutters/clippers

Toiletry products-soap, toothpaste/mouthwash, any alcohol based product, Ben Gay/rubs (can get into eyes, if it needs to be applied you should always be the one to do it)
Any and all medication

Cleaning products

Alcohol/drinking


Anything with a sharp edge or corner should be covered in the event of a fall.
There are a few products that can be used to here.
Baby isle has rubber corners that can be placed on furniture corners, plug covers ect
I came across another problem just recently with metal bed frames (there was a rough spot) filing will make the matter worse so here is a solution...in the automotive store they sell a product for door edges (U shape channel that fits the door edge) you can apply this to metal frame of bed.

If you can think of anything else add on and any solutions that you come up with