1. A gait monitoring system for monitoring gait characteristics of a subject, said system comprising: a sensor module configured to touch an upper surface of a floor, the sensor module configured to while touching the upper surface of the floor detect at least one of floor acceleration, floor vibration, and floor deflection and to provide at least one of an acceleration, vibration, and deflection signal, wherein the subject can walk on the upper surface of the floor in proximity to said sensor module; and a processor that is configured to analyze the acceleration, vibration, and deflection signal and to determine gait characteristics based on the signal, wherein, the processor is configured to determine the gait characteristics based on the at least one signal from a single sensor module; and the processor is configured to detect a fall of a human being by distinguishing between steps of the human being and the fall of the human being and comparing the data to a threshold.