Friday, March 8, 2013
Dramatic 9-1-1 Call: Nurse Refuses To Perform CPR On Collapsed Elderly Woman
An elderly woman died after staff at a senior living facility refused to perform CPR on her after she collapsed in a dining room.
On a 9-1-1 tape, a dispatcher pleads desperately with a nurse to encourage her or anyone at the facility to perform CPR on Lorraine Bayless, the 87-year-old resident who was struggling to breathe. Over seven minutes elapse between when the original call was made and paramedics arrive, but the nurse repeatedly refuses to perform CPR or have someone else on site attempt to resuscitate her. Bayless later died at a nearby hospital, according to a local NBC affiliate KGET.
The call is hard to listen to if you're, like, a human. At one point Bakersfield Fire Dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleads, "Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?" And the nurse can only muster up an awfully cold, bureaucratic response: "Not at this time."
Bayless was a resident at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in a relatively well-to-do area of Bakersfield. Although there is a skilled nursing and assisted living facility at the site, Bayless lived in the "independent living" section. KGET described as an "apartment complex for seniors." There usually aren't nurses in this area of the facility.
What might be the weirdest twist is that no one in this story—except for the dispatcher, of course—seems at all fazed by what happened to Bayless.
Glenwood's executive director Jeffrey Toomer confirmed that the nurse was just following orders: "In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives. That is the protocol we followed."
Full Article & Source:
Dramatic 9-1-1 Call: Nurse Refuses To Perform CPR On Collapsed Elderly Woman
I know they're saying the facility did nothing wrong, but I listened to the tape and it's clear to me that they did wrong.
ReplyDelete"They" didn't do wrong; it was their rules that are wrong. And the responsibility falls on the government, which fails to require emergency provisions be in place.
ReplyDeletewhy did the facility call even 911?
ReplyDeletewhat was the prupose of that?
was it some macabre contest to watch and see who could beat the grim reaper or not?
a means to torture a 911 operator?
or insuring some one was coming to remove an unsightly scene so the facility would not be burdened with the task?
don't worry folks, I will still carry a very well stocked medical kit in the trunk of my car with an ambu-bag, and I will drop to my knees to give you the best chance I can for you to survive, and as I do the rest at the side of the road will put out the flares and direct traffic so that we arent hit, as others call 911.
and at the end of the day, if we lose you just the same?
we will have done our best which is far more than we can say about what happened here.
With you folks everyone does something wrong. This woman had a fine. Quit making mountains out of molehill.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, there is a question as to why a call to 911 was made in the first place, if no effort was to be made to provide medical care to the person in question.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, awareness is important. People need to know what can happen, so they are informed and are armed with the "right questions" before deciding on a facility or health care provider or health care decision.