Nursing Home Choking Accidents

Negligence in the Nursing Home

Our parents have been there from the beginning, caring for us when we were vulnerable children, supporting our decisions as we grew into adulthood, and offering us their wisdom throughout our lives. However, sometimes the needs of our parents become more than we can handle as they age. When the decision has to be made to entrust the care of our parents to a nursing home, it is done with great care. We know that you researched the facilities, the staff, and the care that your parents would receive before choosing the right nursing home. Despite all of your precautions, something went terribly wrong and now your mother or father has suffered devastating harm, or possibly died, from a preventable choking injury. If you believe that the negligence of the nursing home staff led to this tragedy, Stern Law, PLLC can work with you on behalf of your parents to get the justice that you deserve.

Choking and Suffocation Hazards in Nursing Homes

Residents of nursing homes face a variety of threats that could lead to suffocation or choking. If a person suffers from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or another form of cognitive impairment, the very act of eating can become life-threatening if someone from the nursing home does not assist throughout the feeding. An attendant must ensure that the resident properly chews the food, swallows before taking another bite, and does not try to place too much food in his or her mouth. When nursing homes are understaffed, this may not happen and the result can be that the patient chokes on the food. State and federal regulations impose minimum staffing requirements, but these are not always met. In addition, it might be that the staff did not have the proper training to assess the need of the resident and provide the proper individualized assistance. Therefore, although it may seem like the choking incident was an accident, it may really have been caused by the neglect of the facility.

In addition to choking hazards, there are numerous dangers in a nursing home that may lead to suffocation. This may result from a blockage in an oxygen tank line or the resident becoming caught in the bed rails or wrapped up in devices used for physical restraint. Moreover, medical procedures such as tracheotomies that result in a permanent tracheotomy may lead to increased risk of obstruction from other residents or inattentive or incompetent nursing home staff if the opening and tube are not cared for properly.

Although there are many different threats that exist in a nursing home, including the potential for sexual or physical abuse, certain types of negligence or reckless behavior lead to a large percentage of the harm that residents experience from choking or suffocation. These potential hazards include:

• Staff failing to assist residents with drinking or eating – Many residents will have physical or neurological problems that make drinking or eating very difficult. These individuals usually have paperwork that indicates that they require special care and consideration, including food being cut up into small pieces, which is not done because the instructions are ignored or the staff is overworked and cannot manage individualized care. Even if there is no paperwork from when the resident first came to the nursing home, there should be a periodic evaluation about what problems may exist with eating or drinking.
• Nursing home residents become dehydrated – This can result from staff failing to assist a patient with drinking a sufficient amount of fluids or neglecting to provide fluids for a resident who cannot fend for himself or herself. A dehydrated person may not be able to swallow properly, leading to choking.
• Residents become entangled in equipment or furniture – Nursing homes are filled with objects that can become a choking or suffocation risk, including cords on lights, medical equipment, or small appliances, as well as the bed rails, support bars, and other structures within the resident’s room or common areas. Residents with physical or cognitive impairments can get themselves caught or wedged in these obstacles, leading to asphyxiation.
• The staff fails to maintain the medical equipment, including breathing aids – Many nursing home residents depend upon the equipment for every breath. When these apparatuses do not function properly because the staff has failed to carry out routine maintenance, then a resident may suffocate or choke. In addition, a person who relies on oxygen needs the tanks to be refilled on a timely basis.
• Medical personnel do not monitor patients for medication side effects – A patient may experience side effects of an administered drug, including dry mouth, which may lead to difficulty swallowing and choking.
• Improper use of physical restraints – If restraints are not affixed properly or are used on a resident who should not be restrained, it can lead to the individual becoming entangled with the restraints or getting into trouble while trying to avoid the restraints. A patient may try to get over the restraints, resulting in unintentional strangulation, asphyxiation, and even death.
• Medical conditions were ignored – Many elderly residents of nursing homes suffer from respiratory ailments that can lead to the build-up of fluid in the lungs. If the medical personnel do not react to this with prompt treatment, the patient may choke and suffer severe harm. Further, if a resident has had a tracheotomy, the resulting stoma must be kept clean and the tube free from any and all obstructions. A failure to carry out this critical medical care can lead to a patient suffocating from a partial or complete blockage.

Although accidents do occur, many injuries or deaths in nursing homes that are initially attributed to an accident are, in fact, the result of negligence or abuse and were completely preventable.

How do I Know if there are Hazards that Should be Corrected?

Although it is impossible for someone, no matter how vigilant he or she is in evaluating the nursing home and its staff, to determine all of the potential problems on his own, there are some things that should be considered when looking around the nursing home. Many times, there is evidence of some sort of neglect or negligence in the general care and treatment of the residents that supports the fact that there was wrongdoing that led to your parent’s injury. These are just a few of the many questions that you might ask:

Does the nursing home seem to rely on physical restraints with many of the residents?

Physical restraints are any type of mechanical device, including material or equipment, which is used to restrict a person’s freedom of movement or access to parts of his or her body. They are attached to or adjacent to the patient who is being restrained. They only should be used under the supervision of a doctor because they are considered a form of medical treatment. Approximately nine percent of nursing home residents are restrained in this manner. If it appears that a significantly larger percentage of residents are restrained, then this is a good indication that there is a problem.

When you came to the nursing home during meal times, were the staff in rooms and the dining area helping residents with their meals or was the food simply delivered?

Of course, not every resident needs assistance with drinking or eating, but you are at the nursing home often enough to have observed patients that appear to need extra assistance. Do you see these people getting specialized care or are they left to fend for themselves. It is unlikely that these residents are getting better care when you are not there.

Is the medical equipment that you can see clean and well maintained and do the residents have the supplies that they need?

Often, you can see residents sitting in the common areas with their medical equipment. Are the tubes clear and without kinks and does the equipment appear to be functioning properly? Also, have you ever heard a patient complaining that they are not getting sufficient oxygen or that their tanks need to be refilled?  If this is happening when you are around, it is likely that it is even worse when there are no visitors to keep staff actively engaged in providing care.

These are only a few of the questions that you should ask yourself if you suspect that your mother or father was injured because of a preventable choking or suffocation accident. For other questions and general answers about nursing home abuse, please see our Frequently Asked Questions reference section.

Stern Law, PLLC: Our Lawyers Make a Difference

The reason that you researched nursing homes in the first place was because your mother or father required specialized care and you were afraid that you would not be able to provide it at the level that would ensure the optimal quality of life. You were determined to find a place where all of their needs would be satisfied. A clean and sanitary facility was only the first factor out of a long list of important considerations. You wanted a place where the staff would pay attention to changing needs and provide compassionate oversight to ensure that there were no problems. Despite all of your best efforts, your parent now has suffered a terrible injury from a choking or suffocation event and you want answers. You deserve to learn the truth about how many staff were on duty at the time of the harm suffered by your parent as well as the educational background and training of each of these employees. You also need to know about the use of medical equipment and how it was maintained. Stern Law, PLLC is committed to helping you get these answers and determine who was responsible for your parent’s harm.

As a loving son, I understand the devastation that you now face when the people entrusted with the care of your parent violated that trust in the most fundamental way. I founded Stern Law, PLLC in order to get justice for the most vulnerable members of our society and I will work tirelessly to get you the answers that you need. Please call our team at 1-877-469-7273 (1-877-4MYPARENT) at any time, day or night, seven days a week. We will listen to your situation and help devise the best plan going forward, without charge.