The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 4

A4 TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 2015 OTTAWA CITIZEN Why do emioir boa! so often? sfa Health Network wants to learn why-there are so many injuries in area some strategies. "We really want seniors to do whatever they can to identify if they're at risk of falls and take steps before they get into that situation where they have a fear of falling," LeClerc said. "We know we won't be able to prevent every single fall, but we'd like to minimize it to the degree that we're able to." The health sector can't resolve the problem on its own, she stressed.

"We do need other sectors to be paying attention as well." For example, sidewalks need to be safe, traffic lights need to stay green long enough for people to cross without rushing and businesses need to have appropriate lighting. More information is available at the Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario's website, www. stopfalls.ca. dbutlerottawacitizen.com twitter.comButlerDon grated falls prevention program in 2011. From that, a regional strategy has evolved.

One goal is for all adults 65 and older to be screened for falls on an annual basis. "Most people go in for an annual physical," LeClerc said. "This should be part of it." A key tool is an "evidence-based algorithm" to help doctors screen people who are at high risk of falling. It was field tested and refined over the past year or so and is now being distributed widely to physicians. Though the tool is mostly paper-based at present, Leclerc hopes it will eventually be integrated into doctors' electronic health records to automatically screen patients for their risk of falls and alert doctors if action is required.

The LHIN has also developed a checklist for seniors who are living independently that helps them identify where they might have risks and points them towards where their fear of falling makes them more at risk of actually falling" LeClerc said the LHIN doesn't know why the fall problem is worse in this region than elsewhere. "Certainly we've got bad weather, but so do they up north and in other parts of the province. It's something we're looking into to try to better understand if there's something unique in our region." In Canada, one in three seniors has a fall in any given year, and 25 per cent of those suffer injuries. Falls cause more than 90 per cent of all hip fractures among seniors. Twenty per cent die within a year.

Falls are responsible for 40 per cent of all seniors' admissions to long-term care homes. Nationally, they account for nearly one-third of all injury costs a total of $6.2 billion annually. The Champlain LHIN began working with other Ontario LHINs and health units to develop an inte- tem $17.2 million. The problem has captured the attention of the Champlain LHIN, which is in the process of rolling out key elements of a falls prevention strategy it hopes will reduce those costs by 10 per cent about $1.7 million. "If an incredibly important issue," CEO Chantale LeClerc said.

"It has a huge impact on older people's quality of life and their ability to remain engaged in their communities." Seniors who fall often develop a fear of falling, which causes them to reduce their activities, LeClerc said. "They're not as mobile. They don't go out for walks. They become more socially isolated. They get into this quick downward spiral DON BUTLER OTTAWA CITIZEN Seniors in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario require hospitalization or emergency treatment for falls far more often than those in the rest of Ontario, says the Champlain Local Health Integration Network.

Between April and June 2014, the Champlain LHIN had the highest fall-related hospitalization rate for seniors in the province, and the second-highest rate of fall-related visits to emergency departments, according to a recent presentation to the LHIN's board. In 2013, 2,765 seniors in the Champlain LHIN were admitted to hospital after falling, On average, they were hospitalized for 15 days, costing the health care sys COVENTRY BRIDGE OPEN FOR BUSINESS Pedestrians walk across the Coventry Pedestrian and Cycling Bridge, which spans the 417 highway from the Ottawa Baseball Stadium. The bridge, which adds another link to the city's pedestrian and cycling network, was officially opened Monday by Mayor Jim Watson and other city councillors and VIPS. julis Oliver Ottawa citizen 'Vast majority' of Ontario road deaths over 10 years Three police of icers facing norrlont nf Hi it nharrrao ft J. COLLISIONS PROVINCEWIDE 265 The number of fatal road crashes across the province in 2014 that were investigated by OPP.

46 Deaths alcoholdrug related 73 Inattention-related deaths 61 Speeding-related deaths 50 No seatbelt or helmet COLLISIONS IN EASTERN ONTARIO 45The number of fatal collisions in Eastern Ontario 8 Deaths alcoholdrug related 9 Inattention-related deaths 6 Speeding-related deaths 5 No seatbelt or helmet to which driving behaviour contributes to road deaths. "As we have said before, regardless of how hard the OPP works to reduce the number of lives lost in road collisions, we cannot do this alone," Blair says. "Ontarians need to understand what we learn from this data, which is that the vast majority of the people who have died on our roads did not have to die." i 1 1 1 i protect the public interest, prevent the continuation or repetition of the offence or the commission of another offence, or ensure the safety of the alleged victim orother witness. Ottawa Police Association labour officer Gary Babstock, who represented the officers at Monday's hearing, said it was not unusual for police to release people accused of domestic violence on conditions and a promise to appear in court. "Police officers who are working with people who are in custody are not doctors or psychologists.

Their job is to assess whether they have the authority, based on the Criminal Code, to hold somebody in custody," Babstock said. "There are a number of elements to a detention that have to be met before you can continue with the detention beyond simple arrest "If (the officers) felt that at any point (an accused) met all of those requirements, they would be compelled to release. They would no longer have authority to hold that individual." Babstock said the association was disappointed the Office of the Independent Police Review Director directed the charge to be laid after the Ottawa Police Service's own internal investigation determined no charges were warranted. All three officers remain on active duty. The case will continue March 25 with a teleconference.

aseymourottawacitizen.com Twitter.com,''andrewseyniour ANDREW SEYMOUR OTTAWA CITIZEN Three Ottawa police officers have been accused of neglect of duty after a man accused of assaulting his wife was released from custody and then tried to take a gun from a police officer. According to a notice of hearing filed Monday, Sgt. James Ritchie, Const. Diego Conte and Const. Krishna Reid "neglected or omitted to promptly and diligently per-; form a duty" when they released the man from custody on Jan.

3, 2014. The Police Services Act charges were laid after the provincial Office of the Independent Police Review Director investigated a complaint by the man's wife. The notice of hearing does not indicate why the man was in cus- tody, but criminal court documents obtained by the Citizen reveal he was charged with assaulting and sexually assaulting his wife. The man was released on a promise to appear in court and an undertaking that he'd follow several conditions. But he quickly found himself back in police custody after ending up in a struggle with a police officer on the street not far from the police station.

The man was then charged with assaulting a police officer and attempting to take his gun, along with three counts of breach of his release conditions. He pleaded guilty in June to assaulting his wife, attempting to PAULA McCOOEY OTTAWA CITIZEN The "overwhelming majority" of collisions and fatal crashes during the past 10 years on roads patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police were the result of poor driving or driving errors, a new study shows. And while the number of fatal collisions on Ontario roads has dropped over the past decade, many of them could have been prevented. The traffic-safety study shows there were 380 fatal road crashes on OPP-patrolled roads and highways in 2005, resulting in 443 deaths; last year there were 265 crashes and 287 deaths. The main causes are broken down into what the report calls the "Big accidents related to alcoholdrugs, inattention (such as texting), speed, and no seatbelt or, in the case of a motorcycle, no helmet.

All those factors except speeding were down in 2014 from the year before. In Eastern Ontario last year, there were 45 collisions that caused 48 deaths. Eight of the deaths were related to drugsalcohol, nine to inattention, six to speed and five to a lack of seatbelt or helmet. There are other factors, including animal-related collisions and a driver in medical distress. In a news release, OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair, provincial commander of traffic safety and operational support, said the purpose of sharing collision and fatality data is to show the extent There are a number of elements to a detention that have to be met before you can continue with the detention beyond simple arrest take an officer's gun and two counts of breaching his release conditions by failing to keep the peace and by communicating with people he had been ordered not to have any contact with.

The man was given a suspended sentence after serving 21 days in pre-sentence custody and placed on probation for two years. The other charges were withdrawn. The notice of hearing alleges the officers" decision to release the man was in contravention of an Ottawa police policy on bail and violent crime and provisions of a section of the Criminal Code dealing with releasing an arrested person from custody. That section of the code includes a requirement that an officer not release a person if there are reasonable grounds to believe the person's detention is necessary to.