Medical Facilities Must Use Wheel-Locks and Supervision to Protect Patients in Wheelchairs
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Perhaps the most basic safeguard nursing homes and hospitals can implement with wheelchair patients is the utilization of wheel-locks. Too often, physically disabled patients are simply propped up in their wheelchairs with the assumption that they face little chance of getting injured.
However, as I have discussed before, wheelchair patients must be properly supervised in order to minimize the chance of accidental injury due to the rolling of a chair or falling from it. The lack of supervision appears to have played a role in the case of a Connecticut nursing home patient who literally rolled from the facility to his death.
The incident involved an 88-year-old man with dementia at Bishops Corner Skilled & Nursing Rehabilitation. According to news reports of the incident, the man rolled from the front of the facility, down more than 40-foot hill, through a fence, before hitting his head on concrete. The man was pronounced dead shortly after the incident at a local hospital as a result of the head injury he sustained in the incident.
Making this tragic situation even worse is the fact that the man had tried to leave the facility earlier in the morning. Staff was notified of the incident when the door alarm went off. After the incident, the staff imposed a 15-minute check system to confirm the man remained in the facility. I guess this check system failed?
Bishops Corner is a 130-bed skilled nursing facility that is owned by Genesis Healthcare. Medicare rates the facility two out of five stars, putting the facility in the 'below average' category.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represents victims of Nursing Home Falls. We offer free consultations for all Nursing Home Fall cases and only charge a fee if there is a recovery.
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Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
The incident involved an 88-year-old man with dementia at Bishops Corner Skilled & Nursing Rehabilitation. According to news reports of the incident, the man rolled from the front of the facility, down more than 40-foot hill, through a fence, before hitting his head on concrete. The man was pronounced dead shortly after the incident at a local hospital as a result of the head injury he sustained in the incident.
Making this tragic situation even worse is the fact that the man had tried to leave the facility earlier in the morning. Staff was notified of the incident when the door alarm went off. After the incident, the staff imposed a 15-minute check system to confirm the man remained in the facility. I guess this check system failed?
Bishops Corner is a 130-bed skilled nursing facility that is owned by Genesis Healthcare. Medicare rates the facility two out of five stars, putting the facility in the 'below average' category.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represents victims of Nursing Home Falls. We offer free consultations for all Nursing Home Fall cases and only charge a fee if there is a recovery.
Copyright Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers - Google+
More information about Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers
View all articles published by Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
