Serious and fatal injuries can happen at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Los Angeles County for many different reasons. Some of those reasons involve intentionally bad acts, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse toward elderly residents or willful deprivation of elderly residents. Under other circumstances, older adults can sustain serious harm as a result of negligence. A staff member or the facility itself may not intend any harm, but because of issues like understaffing or employee burnout, the elderly residents might not receive the oversight and care they need to stay safe and healthy. The latter is often how choking injuries and deaths occur in nursing homes and other residential care facilities for the elderly in Southern California.
When a choking injury or death occurs, who is liable? Our Los Angeles nursing home negligence lawyers can explain in more detail.
Nursing Home Duty to Understand Choking Risks and to Take Precautions
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must provide care to residents based on the individual level of care each patient needs. As a result, in order to prevent all residents from sustaining preventable harm, nursing homes need to understand the specific healthcare needs of every resident, which means that some residents may receive more oversight or individualized or more frequent care than others. Some residents may receive assistance with activities of daily living like dressing, eating, or bathing, while others may not need the same forms of help.
While all older adults are at an increased risk of choking in comparison with younger adults and older kids, some are at an even greater risk of choking than others. Nursing homes must recognize these needs — and the specific increased risks of choking risks for certain patients — and take preventive measures.
Nursing Home Liability for Choking Injuries and Deaths
Given the information above, you should not be surprised to learn that nursing homes and assisted living facilities in California can be liable for choking injuries and deaths. Although some choking incidents may occur even when all precautions are taken, and staff members are properly trained to address a choking situation, in most circumstances, choking-related harms do result from employee negligence at the facility. Accordingly, the facility can be held accountable.
What steps should facilities be taking to prevent choking injuries and deaths? The California Department of Social Services cites some of the following:
- Recognizing that older adults produce less saliva and may be at increased risk of choking despite otherwise good health;
- Identifying medications or health conditions (such as a history of stroke or dentures) that can increase a resident’s risk of choking and taking appropriate monitoring precautions; and
- Ensuring that foods posing an increased risk of choking (such as hot dogs, hard candy, or white bread) are not served to patients with choking risks and that large pieces of meat or other proteins or fruits and vegetables are cut into smaller sizes when appropriate to avoid a choking incident.
Contact a Los Angeles County Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney Today
If your loved one experienced any kind of choking-related harm while residing in a nursing home or at an assisted living facility, you should seek legal help from a Los Angeles County nursing home negligence lawyer. Contact the Walton Law Firm to find out more about filing a claim against the facility and holding it accountable.
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