Cigarette Lighter Mishap Results In Severe Burns To Nursing Home Patient
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Mr. Ellis's photo appears on wdsu.com
Officials are investigating the circumstances surrounding the severe burns sustained by a 77-year-old nursing home patient in New Orleans. The man sustained burns to 80% of his body when his bed caught fire following the Super Bowel. The man identified as Hubert Ellis, was a non-smoker, yet fire investigators found two cigarette lighters in his bed that they believe started the fire.
It is unclear if the smoke detector in Mr. Ellis's room was operating properly at the time of the incident. Similarly, the nursing home's response to the incident is under investigation as well.
In either respect, why did this nursing home patient have cigarette lighters in his bed? Many nursing homes have strict smoking policies that require lighters to be kept under the guard of nursing home staff-- to avoid incident's such as this.
Read more about this incident involving the burns to a nursing home patient here.
Related:
Smoking-Related Fires Are A Real Threat To Nursing Home Patients. Is It Time To Put Out The Fire?
Nursing Home Patient Sustains Serious Burns After Smoking In His Bed
Maximum Fine Levied Against Nursing Home For Failing To Supervise Resident While Smoking
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A nursing home patient, connected to an oxygen line, sustained serious burns to his face and after his cigarette ignited the nasal line and the bed in which he was laying. The incident took place at Summit Park Nursing Home in New York. Nurses were able to extinguish the fire before the man sustained more serious burns to other parts of his body. .png)
Nursing homes have a duty to protect their residents from harm inflicted by not just the staff and other residents at the facility--but also keeping residents from harming themselves. Rivera Healthcare Center, a California nursing home, failed to protect a resident from harming himself and consequently received a $100,000 fine-- the highest fine permissible under California law. 
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