Totally off-track for this site and on the other side of the country … but maddening nonetheless;
An event occurred in California at an independent living facility … you be the judge:
CPR refusal case probed in Bakersfield
Police were investigating Monday whether there was any criminal wrongdoing in the handling of a health emergency at an independent living facility where a woman died after a nurse refused to provide CPR.
An official at Glenwood Gardens, a sprawling, gated facility in Bakersfield, defended the nurse, saying she had followed policy in dealing with the 87-year-old woman who collapsed in a dining room.
A police dispatcher who fielded the 911 call was told the woman appeared to have a heart problem and was barely breathing. Police immediately routed the call to the Fire Department, where a dispatcher pleaded with a nurse at the home to perform CPR on the woman.
The nurse refused, saying one of the facility’s policies prevented her from doing CPR, according to an audio recording of the call.
Bakersfield Police spokeswoman Michaela Beard said the department is looking into the incident.
An unidentified woman made the Feb. 26 call, and asked for paramedics to be sent to help the woman. Later, a woman who identified herself as a nurse got on the phone and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.
Halvorson urged the nurse to start CPR. “I understand if your boss is telling you, you can’t do it,” the dispatcher said. “But … as a human being … you know, is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”
“Not at this time,” the nurse answered.
During the 7-minute, 16-second call, Halvorson assured the nurse that Glenwood couldn’t be sued if anything went wrong with CPR.
Halvorson is an experienced dispatcher and has worked for the county center for at least a decade, Kern County Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Miller said.
Firefighters and ambulance personnel arrived at the facility seven minutes after the call came in, Miller said. The county does not know who made the call, he added.
The woman had no pulse and wasn’t breathing, Fire Department spokesman Anthony Galagaza added. Crews started CPR and loaded her onto a gurney. She was later declared dead at a hospital.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/CPR-refusal-case-probed-in-Bakersfield-4328014.php#ixzz2Mn1tn47m
Is the nurse negligent … would the same thing happen here?
#1 by grumpy grizzly on March 7, 2013 - 2:43 PM
Just some definitions. An independent living complex is just a fancy name for a senior citizen complex. An assisted living center is another animal. All staff have CPR training and also those DeFib units. When the FD is requested, the elevators come to the first floor and the front doors are unlocked and opened. My wife worked at one in the western suburbs, they had a great relationship with the FDs that were in that jurisdiction. I agree with Dennis, none of us were there.
#2 by dennis on March 6, 2013 - 3:32 PM
Nobody knows exactly what happened so before any passes judgement lets get all the facts.
#3 by Spoung45 on March 6, 2013 - 3:12 PM
Unless there is a DNR order in hand you must perform CPR on the patient. I believe that’s how a state statue reads for all medically trained personal licensed by the state. you have a duty to act so if there is no DNR in hand it does not exist until you are physically holding it.
#4 by Patrick on March 6, 2013 - 2:16 PM
A number of years ago, my wife was taking my mother (a terminal cancer patient) to the doctor. On the way to the doctor, my mother passed out in the car. My wife rolled up to the ER of a local hospital and asked for a gurney and assistance. They told her to call 911 because they weren’t able to go outside to bring in a patient. So I guess it happens when lawyers make policies. That said, in the Bakersfield incident, it sounds like the nursing home needs wholesale retraining of staff. It appears that the patient had a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order, but there were no clear instructions to staff on what to do if a DNR patient coded. The nurse likely panicked and called 911. I guess she got the message that a patient with a DNR wasn’t to be worked on by staff, but they forgot to tell the staff what they *were* supposed to do when this happened.
When my mother was in hospice care at home with a DNR, we were told very clearly that if she coded, we were not to call 911 because the FD would have no choice but to work on her, regardless of order. The hospice took care of things from there.
#5 by chris r on March 6, 2013 - 1:45 PM
You would think watching someone dying before your eyes would guilt , you into acting . I dont care what your policy is and why the policy . Did something go wrong in the past to have a rule . They should file charges under the duty to act law or good samartian law . Its sad that no one did nothing !