As the temperature outside is rising to over 100 degrees in some parts of the country, we want to remind you how vulnerable the elderly are to the heat. Nursing home neglect can lead to patients being left in rooms without air conditioning, left outside in wheelchairs, individuals wandering outside into the heat and not able to make their way back into the facility. Checking up on your elderly loved ones in the summer months can be crucial to their health. Whether they live alone or in a nursing home facility, it is important to make sure that they have properly working air conditioners and fans that will keep them out of the heat. Heat exhaustion is a very preventable form of nursing home neglect.
Missing Resident Found Unresponsive Outside Facility
A 57-year-old woman was found unresponsive this week outside of the Riverview Nursing Home in Bossier City, Louisiana where she lived. The autopsy has not yet been performed, but Bossier Coroner Dr. John Chandler said there were indications that the death was heat-related. It was 100 degrees with a heat index of 106 degrees in Bossier City on the day the woman was found. She had been missing for several hours before a staff member of the nursing home found her a little after 6 p.m. She was taken to Willis Knighton Pierremont hospital in Shreveport where she was pronounced dead.
The details of this story have not been released, so we do not know the mental or physical condition of this woman. She most likely wandered out of the home and was not able to make her way back. It is the nursing home’s responsibility to keep track of their residents. Patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia are especially prone to wandering off and not knowing how to get back to the facility. The staff needs to be more aware of where all of the residents are at all times. In the summer and winter months, an elderly person wandering outside can suffer fatal consequences if they are not found immediately.
Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently a resident of a nursing home or care facility and you are worried that the care they are receiving is negligent, abusive, or inadequate, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.