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Elderly Woman Dies After Nurse Refuses to Give Her CPR
abc ^ | 3/3/13 | Alyssa Newcomb

Posted on 03/03/2013 2:19:31 PM PST by Nachum

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.

The incident unfolded on Tuesday when 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless collapsed at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield.

In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility's policy for employees to perform CPR on residents.

With every passing second, Bayless' chances of survival were diminishing. The dispatcher's tone turned desperate.

"Anybody there can do CPR. Give them the phone please. I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to that passerby," the dispatcher said. "This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don't get this started."

(Excerpt) Read more at gma.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: cpr; dies; elderly; woman
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To: Gay State Conservative

A DNR is a possibility I hadn’t considered and is a valid point.

That being said, if this lady did not have one I’m not sure I could have stood down and not attempted to help if I had that capability. Policy or not. I here there is a “Good Samaratin” law.

A sign of our troubled times, I guess.


21 posted on 03/03/2013 2:41:12 PM PST by berdie
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To: Nachum
Doesn't a nurse's duty to the Hippocratic oath trump that of hospital policy? I smell a lawsuit coming against that criminally negligent nurse.

Oath: "The health and life of my patient will be my first consideration"

22 posted on 03/03/2013 2:41:39 PM PST by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (PRISON AT BENGHAZI?????)
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To: Nachum

Sorry, I’m sure that patient signed the DNR before they go into an end life facility. You can’t go against their final wishes. This was like this before Obamacare


23 posted on 03/03/2013 2:41:55 PM PST by MadelineZapeezda (“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”....Ben Franklin)
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To: berdie

here=hear


24 posted on 03/03/2013 2:44:14 PM PST by berdie
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To: ilovesarah2012

Truth bump.


25 posted on 03/03/2013 2:44:44 PM PST by Dust in the Wind (U S Troops Rock)
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To: Nachum
If it was caused by V-fib or V-Tach a defibrillator could have saved her life, the sooner you shock the better the chances of survival. However, a lot of nursing homes and assisted living facilities don't even carry the automatic defibrillators like you see on the walls of airports. A nursing home I worked at didn't carry one because of “liability reasons.” I suspect they're worried about a lawsuit if a defib is used improperly.
26 posted on 03/03/2013 2:44:57 PM PST by GoldwaterCountry (Viva Reagan Revolucion!)
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To: oldbrowser
“Some facilities have been sued for intervening in spite of the Good Samaritan law. So many do not take a chance.”

This is entirely correct, and people should be aware of the reality of these situations. In my view, it is entirely acceptable for an elderly patient to state and document that they do not want to have resuscitation attempted if they suffer sudden death, but this has to be spelled out before hand, including the details of what they do and don't want done (e.g. attempted cardioversion, but no chest compressions or intubation, etc.). In cases in which a patient has requested this, and resuscitation attempts were made anyway, lawsuits have resulted. This is not the same as assisted suicide. This is a decision for non-intervention when natural death occurs. Of course, this begs the question of 'what is natural death?'.

27 posted on 03/03/2013 2:45:25 PM PST by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: Nachum
I was an ambulance medic for 20+ years and had my share of CPR calls in nursing facilities. The big question here is did this woman have "Do Not Resuscitate"(DNR) orders. I remember my first defibrillation experience was at a nursing home on a 93 year old woman. The facility was using a temporary nurse service so CPR was initiated. I responded with my squad and we initiated our code protocol. I attempted defibrillation without success. We then loaded her in the ambulance and continued CPR en route to the hospital. The ER doctor quickly declared the woman dead after only a short effort by ER staff. We were subsequently given hell by the doctor who asked why in heavens name would we start a code on a 93 year old woman. She had no chance from the beginning. We got off the hook when we explained CPR was initiated by the nursing home staff before we arrived. The nursing home staff also got an earful from the doctor. Turned out the woman's family had agreed to a DNR order, but the night staff were unaware.

I see a lot of similarities with this situation. Staff may have been hesitant to initiate CPR on an 87 year old and the chances of her surviving even if the CPR had been started is next to zero. Had she been resuscitated there would have been a good chance she would have been brain dead. There comes a point where DNR orders are appropriate.

28 posted on 03/03/2013 2:45:24 PM PST by The Great RJ
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To: Nachum

Thankfully it was not my mother because I know where both the “nurse” and I would be. The “nurse” would be in hell and I would be in jail.


29 posted on 03/03/2013 2:46:19 PM PST by sport
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To: MadelineZapeezda
...Sorry, I’m sure that patient signed the DNR before they go into an end life facility. You can’t go against their final wishes. This was like this before Obamacare...

Why call 911 then?

30 posted on 03/03/2013 2:48:19 PM PST by FReepaholic (Stupidity is not a crime, so you're free to go.)
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To: Nachum
In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility's policy for employees to perform CPR on residents.

Who made the call? Why?

31 posted on 03/03/2013 2:48:38 PM PST by Alaska Wolf (I)
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To: ilovesarah2012

I had to put my mother into a care facility a couple of times in 2010 when I went out of town. Each time I had to specify DNR or Full Code. I chose Full Code.


32 posted on 03/03/2013 2:48:58 PM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: MadelineZapeezda

But 911 was called. Does that not in effect override a DNR?

When I was taking care of my terminally ill mother, hospice nurses told me specifically to NOT call an ambulance or they would be obligated to try revive her.


33 posted on 03/03/2013 2:48:59 PM PST by berdie
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To: Nachum

When she checked into the Old Folks’ Home, she signed a DNR.

Her wishes were fulfilled.


34 posted on 03/03/2013 2:55:01 PM PST by OKRA2012
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To: MadelineZapeezda
The incident unfolded on Tuesday when 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless collapsed at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield.

It doesn't sound like it was an end life facility. I am not knowledgeable about this sort of thing. Did I miss something?

35 posted on 03/03/2013 2:55:20 PM PST by deoetdoctrinae (Gun free zones are playgrounds for felons.)
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To: Nachum; ExTexasRedhead

Death-Care ................................................................ FRegards


36 posted on 03/03/2013 2:56:44 PM PST by gonzo ( Buy more ammo, dammit! You should already have the firearms ... FRegards)
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To: Last of the Mohicans

‘From the American HEART Association: “Only an estimated 8% of victims who suffer a SCA outside of a hospital setting survive.”’

What is your point?


37 posted on 03/03/2013 2:56:53 PM PST by surroundedbyblue (Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
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To: CAluvdubya

The Daily Mail reports the woman had signed a “do not resuscitate” order.


38 posted on 03/03/2013 3:00:12 PM PST by GrootheWanderer
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To: GrootheWanderer

I meant to include this link to the Daily Mail story. It explains more about the policy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287442/Glenwood-Gardens-Dispatchers-desperate-plea-nurse-save-woman-87-stopped-breathing-refused.html?ito=feeds-newsxml


39 posted on 03/03/2013 3:01:50 PM PST by GrootheWanderer
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To: Gay State Conservative
In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility's policy for employees to perform CPR on residents.

Brain damage begins to set in after six minutes, except occasionally in the case of a cold water dry drowning. Hard call to make when your on a first responder dive team. I was on such a team years ago, and had to make that call twice. One lived, the other I had to take a pass. Both very hard calls.

I, also along with my two RN sisters had to make the same call for my 86 year old mother in 06. She had a DNR of her own volition. We respected her wishes.

40 posted on 03/03/2013 3:03:51 PM PST by Focault's Pendulum (I live in NJ....' Nuff said!)
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