July 12, 2016
Brookdale Responds to 911 CPR Case

Following a week of public backlash the parent company of a California senior living facility has issued a statement saying the employee who would not perform CPR on a collapsed resident had misinterpreted the company’s policies.
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“This incident resulted from a complete misunderstanding of our practice with regards to emergency medical care for our residents,” Brookdale Senior Living, headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., said in a statement to the Associated Press late Tuesday.
The administration at Glenwood Gardens, Bakersfield, Calif., defended their staffer earlier this week after refusing a 911 dispatcher’s pleas to perform CPR on 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless, who later died.
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“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. That is the protocol we followed,” Jeffrey Toomer said, Glenwood Gardens’ executive director, earlier this week.
It was not been clarified by Brookdale that the woman on the 911 call was serving in the capacity of a resident services director, not a nurse. In addition, Brookdale confirmed that Glenwood Gardens’ independent living community does not have medical staff, so the facility is not licensed to provide medical care to any of its residents.
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The situation involving the policies within different senior care settings are expanded by the AP report on Brookdale’s statement. The corporation had indicated plans to re-examine its policies that pertain to emergency medical care across all of their communities.
Read more: http://www.ltlmagazine.com/news-item/brookdale-responds-911-cpr-case