Today I captured a small miracle (or something) on my camera that I want to share.  I was walking down 68th street and came to the corner of 68th and Third Avenue, where many people were gathered and were staring at the sky.  I looked up to see a man dangling from a rope that was suspending a window-washing platform.  He apparently fell from the platform and managed to hold onto the rope.  He impressively was able to swing his legs into an adjacent window and then pull himself back onto the platform.  It could have been quite the tragedy had his strength given out or had he missed the window.

So what’s the risk of serious injury from falls from height?  How high must one be above ground in order to sustain a life-threatening injury?  What risk factors are associated with increased mortality from falls?

Several studies have looked at the characteristics of falls and the injuries and mortality associated with them.  Here are some of the highlights.

- Falls from height of 20 feet or greater usually result in major trauma

- The median height of falls associated with death was 15 meters (5 floors)

- Head impact is much more life threatening than lower extremity impact, and landing on your back is better than landing on your stomach

- Urban falls from > 40 feet are RARELY survivable, and are associated with thoracic and abdominal organ injury, in addition to major head injury

You can check out wikipedia for a general article on workplace falls and links to more information.

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