Elderly Woman Dies After Nurse Refuses to Give Her CPR

A 911 dispatcher pleaded with a nurse at a Bakersfield, Calif., senior living facility to save the life of an elderly woman by giving her CPR, but the nurse said policy did not allow her to, according to a newly released audiotape of the call. “Is there anybody there that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?” the dispatcher asked in a recording of the 911 call released by the Bakersfield Fire Department. “Not at this time,” the nurse said.

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As a former EMT, this makes me sick and my blood boil. A NURSE, trained to SAVE LIVES, refuses to perform CPR on a patient who is lying DYING AT HER FEET due to some 'policy' the facility has.
If theyre not supposed to assist or save a life, what the HELL ARE THEY THERE FOR???

I hope the family sues the hell out of the facility and the nurse for failing to save this person's life. There are things called Good Samaritan laws that would have protected this nurse from getting in trouble.
This is what our world has become, trained professionals refusing to do what theyre trained for, over stupid policies.

I'm utterly sick and disgusted.

Heard it on the news yesterday. Pretty damn disgusting. So much for yelling "is there a doctor in the house". From one human being to another, there is NO excuse. I couldn't believe it. Karma though.

There are things called Good Samaritan laws that would have protected this nurse from getting in trouble.

reply to post by HomerinNC


And how many threads have we read here on ATS, where these so called Good Samaritan laws you speak of did not protect people? Personally, I have read one too many stories where people were punished for their good deeds.

I am not sticking up for the nurse, or even the rest of the staff for that matter, but I can understand the mindset behind being afraid to help. I don't agree, but I do understand.

reply to post by HomerinNC


Umm..........then as an EMT you should know about DNR orders..........

those are set in place not only by medical people but by the family and many times by the will of the person......

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


I don't see anywhere where it is mentioned that there is a DNR. If there is, then the nurse did the the right thing. It seems though that the issues is that the facility has an extremely screwed up policy.

reply to post by HomerinNC


Not dis'n you Homer, but read this thread and then see if you still feel that way, it changed my mind..

www.abovetopsecret.com...&flagit=930805

If you ask : Is there a doctor in here?, you will probably not get an answer in USA. You can thank the laywers, law-makers and insurance companies for this. The nurse saved her professional and financial future. In the best scenario her premium on the insurance would have gone up. In a more realistic scenario, she would have been un-employable in the medical field.

reply to post by calstorm


I completely agree..........if their facility doesnt allow life saving procedures there there is some serious issues with that place.......

My family has worked in that industry for a very long time infact my mother was a mutli regional vp for assisted living communities.........

I can tell you right now that NONE of the facilities they had followed this procedure, unless there was a DNR.....

Other then that, yes if there wasnt anything of the sort all of them should be held for negligence at the very least and their pants sued off

Originally posted by HomerinNC

A 911 dispatcher pleaded with a nurse at a Bakersfield, Calif., senior living facility to save the life of an elderly woman by giving her CPR, but the nurse said policy did not allow her to, according to a newly released audiotape of the call. “Is there anybody there that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?” the dispatcher asked in a recording of the 911 call released by the Bakersfield Fire Department. “Not at this time,” the nurse said.

Story & video

As a former EMT, this makes me sick and my blood boil. A NURSE, trained to SAVE LIVES, refuses to perform CPR on a patient who is lying DYING AT HER FEET due to some 'policy' the facility has.
If theyre not supposed to assist or save a life, what the HELL ARE THEY THERE FOR???

I hope the family sues the hell out of the facility and the nurse for failing to save this person's life. There are things called Good Samaritan laws that would have protected this nurse from getting in trouble.
This is what our world has become, trained professionals refusing to do what theyre trained for, over stupid policies.

I'm utterly sick and disgusted.

Kind of misplaced anger at the nurse. These things happen because at one time a nurse did CPR, broke the ribs of an elderly person, so now policy forbids it (or some other stupid scenario along the same lines)...

But what you have to ask yourself, is why the policy exists. Because some dickhead lawyer said "Hey! Let's sue 'em! They hurt you while trying to save your life..."

And right away, people ask for more lawsuits...

Another poster also mentioned DNR agreements, if this is the case, the "policy" applies to the residents that signed the contracts. Knowing full well they would not receive CPR in a case like this.

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
reply to post by HomerinNC

 

Umm..........then as an EMT you should know about DNR orders..........

those are set in place not only by medical people but by the family and many times by the will of the person......

Outlined here.

Good for bringing it up. Funny they don't mention whether or not one was signed in the new story.

reply to post by nidstav


Nurses don't pay insurance. Doctors and facilities pay insurance.

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
.then as an EMT you should know about DNR orders..........

I'm 'only' 50 and I have one.
If I die I don't want to be brought back, only to have to die all over again.
Once is enough.

People make it sound like the resident and family did not know about the CPR policy of the facility. If you know that CPR is not going to be used on you at that facility...don't stay there. We also don't know if the resident had a "Do Not Resusitate" clause in their chart. Frankly, it's none of our business. The way I see it, if the family, facility, and resident were ok with the standing order, the nurse did the appropriate thing. Beside, at 87 y/o don't dare do CPR on me, rather let nature take it's course. Chances are likely the procedure would kill them anyway. Now at 35,45,or 55 that would be a different story.

One part of the article says "This person is not breathing enough". If the person was breathing then I don't believe it would be appropriate to start CPR. EMTs correct me if I'm wrong but when I was CPR certified a loooooong time ago you were instructed to check for a pulse first because starting compression on someone with a pulse could cause the heart to defib or stop. Maybe that has changed now. If they are breathing but not enough I would think administering oxygen would be the appropriate action.

Originally posted by yamammasamonkey
reply to post by nidstav

 

Nurses don't pay insurance. Doctors and facilities pay insurance.

That depends. Sometimes doctors and facilities pay for the nurse's insurance but sometimes the nurse pays for their own. If the nurse is a contractor and not an employee, the facility's policy may not cover them. It all depends on how the policy is written. There is a national association for nurses and they provide an avenue to purchase insurance individually for nurses. Considering all the change to part time employment a nurse may work in multiple facilities to have "full time" work.

reply to post by TXTriker


In the case of respiratory distress we are able to administer breaths for then IF they're un-concious. If they are awake you're supposed to give them oxygen and help get them in a position they can breath.

Of course a nurse could have given way more advanced ways to help her.

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by TXTriker

 

In the case of respiratory distress we are able to administer breaths for then IF they're un-concious. If they are awake you're supposed to give them oxygen and help get them in a position they can breath.

Of course a nurse could have given way more advanced ways to help her.

Thanks. We were taught that you could do breaths only. I do believe that they could have done more to help her but we still don't know about the DNR.

As to why the 911 call if there was a DNR, they are required to call 911 by regulations. If there is a DNR they are also required to notify responders of the DNR.

reply to post by TXTriker


I see, thanks, I didn't know that.

DNR orders come under HIPAA Privacy Rules and the media would not have the right to know.

Even the family would not have the right to know under some cases if the elderly woman believes they would go against her wishes

There are a number of do gooders in calif that want to do away with .DNRs claiming its a form of Suicide.

Originally posted by ANNED
There are a number of do gooders in calif that want to do away with .DNRs claiming its a form of Suicide.

DNR and Suicide ... two things that any adult on the planet should be able to do without having others interfere with them on. Both should be legal for whoever wants them. I find it absurd that anyone would want to keep another adult human being alive who doesn't want to be here anymore ... no matter what the reason is for that person wanting to 'move on'. It's no one else's business.