Hawaii spends $81,000 to hire a 'fall-prevention coordinator'

And you thought the attractions of Hawaii were the weather, the sun, the beach, the attractions . . . but you've missed the biggest one. In Hawaii, there is now a state employee who will help to prevent you from falling down:

Some 8,700 of Hawaii’s senior citizens go to the emergency room each year, costing the state $10 million annually in transportation alone. Another $90 million is spent on emergency room and hospital visits for seniors who took serious falls in which they broke their hips or hit their heads, with rehabilitation costs of about another $90 million. Senate Human Services Committee Chair Suzanne Chun Oakland said no nonprofit or private entity could coordinate fall prevention in the state with the authority of the state government. Stanley Michaels Jr., 73, an employee with the state Department of Health, is the state’s part-time, volunteer falls prevention coordinator.

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Michaels, who took a bad fall himself leading to a hip replacement, gives presentations to seniors and caregivers, recommending seniors get their vision checked annually and review all medication side effects with a doctor or pharmacist; “safety proof” their homes by removing clutter, extension cords, throw rugs or items on the floor; exercise; and carry an electronic monitoring device.

Got that? There's no way you would know that throw rugs, extension cords and clutter could cause you to trip and fall unless the government's "fall-prevention coordinator" gives you a presentation explaining it to you. And by the way, this is a guy who can't stay upright himself, as his hip replacement shows. You'd think senior citizens had gone straight from infancy to old age and never went through a phase of their lives when they understood that tripping on stuff could represent a problem. That seems to be the perspective of state government here, which is convinced that no one is safe in their own homes unless so-called government experts give them presentations on how not to accidentally hurt yourself just walking around the house. Where are the government experts to give us presentations so we don't stab ourselves with steak knives, drink rat poison or accidentally watch MSNBC. There are a lot of dangers out there! It's not that $81,000 is a budget buster. It's the self-important notion of government that none of us can handle the basic propositions of life without their help. How absurd. I myself am perfectly fine and don't need any government bureaucrat to tell me how to . . . wait, I've fallen, and I can't get up! Why didn't Rick Snyder do something about this when he had the chance?