A resident at the Danville Care Center in Danville, Illinois fractured two bones in her leg when the staff at the facility attempted to transfer her without the use of the mechanical lift required by her plan-of-care.
The victim’s physician ordered that she only be transferred with a mechanical lift, and there’s little reason to wonder why. The woman has diagnoses of hemiplegia, osteoporosis, and a history of fractures in her legs and hips. In addition to the mechanical lift, two or more staff members are supposed to be present to assist in the transfer.
In spite of this, a single staff member attempted to transfer the resident using a gait belt instead of multiple staff members and a mechanical lift. According to the CNA who attempted the transfer, the mechanical lift was not functioning.
Was the mechanical lift truly broken? The Administration claimed that the batteries merely needed to be replaced and that multiple replacements were at hand. The staff member claims that she attempted to replace the batteries, but that they did not work.
Like many injuries that take place in nursing homes, getting to the truth is often a murky and difficult business. Nursing home falls are extremely dangerous injuries because the bones and bodies of nursing home residents are often so terribly fragile.
What few people outside of the medical field understand is that the long term ramifications of a nursing home fall can be more deadly than the original event. Nursing home falls lead to a loss of mobility. Not only can that be extremely dangerous in the event of an emergency, but it can also lead to conditions like bed sores and pressure ulcers.
These infections, caused by long periods of pressure on one or more parts of the body, can often have fatal consequences.
If you have a loved one who has been seriously injured in a nursing home fall, contact our law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices we never charge a fee unless we earn a recovery for you.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls:
Brain bleed from fall at Gibson Community Hospital Annex
Fall at Pontiac Healthcare Center results in brain bleed
Failure to use equipment as ordered result in fall at Alden Waterford