Nurse refuses to perform CPR on elderly woman who died
A central California retirement home is defending one of
its nurses who refused pleas by a 911 operator to perform CPR on an elderly
woman, who later died.
"Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady
and not let her die," dispatcher Tracey Halvorson says on a 911 tape
released by the Bakersfield Fire Department aired by several media outlets on
Sunday.
"Not at this time," said the nurse, who didn't
give her full name and said facility policy prevented her from giving the woman
medical help.
At the beginning of the Tuesday morning call, the nurse
asked for paramedics to come and help the woman who had collapsed in the home's
dining room and was barely breathing.
Halvorson pleads for the nurse to perform CPR, and after
several refusals she starts pleading for her to find a resident, or a gardener,
or anyone not employed by the home to get on the phone, take her instructions
and help the woman.
"Can we flag someone down in the street and get them
to help this lady?" Halvorson says on the call. "Can we flag a stranger
down? I bet a stranger would help her."
The 87-year-old was later declared dead at Mercy
Southwest Hospital, officials said.
The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey
Toomer, defended the nurse's actions in a statement, saying she did indeed
follow policy.
"In the event of a health emergency at this
independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency
medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing
attention until such personnel arrives," Toomer said in a written
statement. "That is the protocol we followed."
Toomer offered condolences to the woman's family and said
a "thorough internal review" of the incident would be conducted.
He told KGET-TV that residents of the home's independent
living community are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in.
He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent assisted living and skilled
nursing facilities.
A call to the facility by The Associated Press seeking
more information on the incident was not immediately returned.
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