Info you should know: Retirement facility staff won’t help if residents have emergency

I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up! There is a story in the SF Gate about a nurse at a retirement facility who would not preform CPR on a resident who collapsed and had a heart attack. This is not something new, but standard policy for many facilities.

Update (March 5): Glenwood Gardens is an “independent living facility” and they describe the staff member as someone acting as a resident services advisor, not as a nurse. In other words, she may have a degree in Nursing, but at that time, was not acting as a nurse.

From the SF Gate.

An elderly woman being cared for at a Bakersfield retirement facility died after a nurse at the facility refused to perform CPR on the woman after she collapsed, authorities said.

When the 87-year-old resident of Glenwood Gardens collapsed at the facility around 11 a.m. Tuesday, a staff member called 911 but refused to give the woman CPR, Bakersfield television station ABC23 reported Friday.

In refusing the 911 dispatcher’s insistence that she perform CPR, the nurse can be heard telling the dispatcher that it was against the retirement facility’s policy to perform CPR.

This is not new. Ask anyone you know who works as a dispatcher for a fire or police department. Even if someone falls out of bed or wheelchair, most facilities will have a written policy to leave the victim in place and call 911 for help. Yup, the ambulance personnel will lift the person up, but them back into their chair or bed, ask them if they are OK and leave.

So, why do you think this is the case? Why is this policy in place at retirement homes and other similar facilities?

 

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

9 Comments

  1. Lynn on March 4, 2013 at 7:34 am

    Fear of lawsuits.



  2. Plainvillian on March 4, 2013 at 8:18 am

    “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” – 21st century motto of American culture.



  3. JBS on March 4, 2013 at 11:55 am

    More like, “I’ve been mugged, beaten to the ground and kicked to the curb and I can’t get up.” Suggested motto #2.
    ?



  4. Linda Mae on March 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    This happened to my aunt at a very ni$e assisted living in W. Spfld, MA.? She fell out of bed – 911 was called…in spite the huge amount she pays for services…..why?
    ?



  5. JollyRoger on March 4, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    There was a suicide off Alameda island where a man drowned himself in neck deep water. ?The fire dept refused to go in water because their water rescue training had been cut, police refused to rescue him because their gear was inappropriate, and the Coast Guard said the water was too shallow. ?Eventually, a civilian bypassed the police and jumped in, but too late. ?With first responders like these, who needs firearms? ?Everyone!



    • Dimsdale on March 5, 2013 at 9:09 am

      The first responders are becoming nonresponders.? Too bad for them that the usual liberal threats to cut them during budget “negotiations” will fall flat because of stories like this.



  6. Linda Mae on March 5, 2013 at 2:44 am

    Time for a reality check.? My brother said older people have thin and brittle bones and require a fine touch or cpr.? Rather than take? a chance, assisted living and some nursing homes always call 911 in cases of emergency – for legal reasons.? Law suits….
    This incident supports our need for tort reform in the medical field.



    • yeah on March 5, 2013 at 3:24 pm

      bingo.? the super highly paid senior care racket colludes with the ambulance racket, who colludes with the hospital racket, who collude with the healthcare finance racket, who collude with the government racket…
      ?
      and you plebes over there, pay up!? price distortions resultant from government favoritism dont exist!!!



  7. mynoc3 on March 5, 2013 at 11:00 am

    I hear this nurse is looking for a position on the death panels.



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