Nursing Home Patient Dies After Clothes Ignite While Smoking
Authorities are now investigating the smoking-related death of a 62-year-old man at a Chicago nursing home. The man identified as, Lawrence Lewis, suffered first and second degree burns to more than 20% of his body after his clothes caught fire while lighting a cigarette in an outdoor smoking area. After struggling with another patient to extinguish the fire, a third person at the nursing home used a fire extinguisher to put out any remaining flames. The Chicago Fire Department transferred Mr. Lewis to nearby Saint Frances Hospital in Evanston. Due to the severity of his burns, Mr. Lewis was eventually...
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Stupidity Plain & Simple To Blame For Series Of Portable Heater Burns To Nursing Home Patients
Perhaps one of the more frustrating aspects of my job as a nursing home lawyer is the fact that so many nursing home employees forget to bring their common sense to work. Though there seems to be a never ending array of federal and and state nursing home regulations, the regulations really mean nothing if employees forget to use common sense and good judgment. Though some nursing home abuse and neglect cases stem from extremely complex medical complications, a substantial number of injuries to nursing home patients occur simply due to the fact that some one made a stupid mistake....
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Burns In The Nursing Home Population Pose A Serious Threat Of Injury & Further Medical Complications
A hot cup of soup, a radiator, an uncalibrated water thermostat or a fire can all pose serious burn risks for nursing home patients. Your skin is necessary for your body’s regulation of fluid and temperature; it also acts as a barrier against bacteria and viruses. When you burn your skin, you put yourself at risk for infection, tetanus, scarring, permanent injury, and even death depending on the severity of the burn. Stages of Burns Burns are categorized as first degree, second degree, or third degree based upon the depth of the burn and the percentage of total body area...
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Even The Most Mundane Parts Of A Nursing Home Can Turn Deadly Without Proper Staff Supervision
Despite the glimpse of warmer temperatures that are (hopefully) around the corner, many nursing homes and long-term care facilities have their heating systems working at full force. Unfortunately, many of these facilities were constructed at a time when radiant heating systems were state of the art. The danger radiators and portable heating units pose to disabled nursing home patients may seem like somewhat of an alarmist attitude, but the reality is that anything can pose a danger to people who may be unable to appreciate danger to themselves or others. A radiator in a Minnesota nursing home patient's room...
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Burns In Nursing Homes
The National Fire Center, reports an annual average of 2 million fires in the United States. Those fires resulted in an annual average in excess of 27,000 civilian injuries, more than 4,000 deaths. Nursing home residents may sustain burns while at a nursing home facility. Common situations involving residents sustaining burns include: Baths- Staff failing to monitor the water temperature Smoking- Smoking especially around oxygen tanks can be disastrous Lighters- Senile patients playing with lighters Fires in the nursing home. Often nursing homes do not have proper alarms or fire-sprinklers Electric blankets- Staff failing to monitor patients who may...
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