A retirement home in Bakersfield, California is defending one of its nurses who refused to perform CPR on an elderly woman.
The woman later died, despite desperate requests for help from a 911 operator.
A nurse from Glenwood Gardens Retirement home called 911 last week after the 87-year-old woman collapsed in the dining room.
She was unconscious and barely breathing.
The nurse told the operator she was not allowed to perform CPR, insisting it’s company policy to call 911 and wait with the resident for paramedics to arrive.
During the call, the 911 operator becomes so frustrated with the nurse she asks her to pass the phone to anyone willing to help.
The fire department arrived about seven minutes after the call was first made. The woman was taken to the hospital where she later died.
Jeffrey Toomer, the Executive Director of the home, tells KGET TV it’s the policy of Glenwood Gardens that staff does not attempt CPR.
He said the policy is in place because it’s not a nursing facility, it’s an independent living facility.
There are no nurses on staff to provide assistance and residents are made aware of this when they move into the building.
Toomer issued a statement that said in part, “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. As with any incident involving a resident, we will conduct a thorough internal review of this matter, but we have no further comments at this time.”
14 Comments to “911 operator fights to help patient, nurse refuses to perform CPR”
March 4, 2013 at 12:54 PM
Why are there nurses as employees if it is not a nursing facility?
March 4, 2013 at 12:57 PM
If she is not a nurse why does everyone keep calling her a nurse? ? ?
A retirement home in Bakersfield, California is defending one of its nurses…"
"A nurse from Glenwood Gardens Retirement home called 911…"
"The nurse told the operator…" then,
"There are no nurses on staff to provide assistance…"
WTF?
March 4, 2013 at 1:02 PM
There are a lot of unanswered question with this . The big one was she a DNR or not.
March 4, 2013 at 3:11 PM
Other news agencies have reported that she did *not* have a DNR, i.e., she would have wanted to receive CPR.
March 4, 2013 at 3:14 PM
What stuns me even more is, the old lady's daughter, who apparently is also a nurse, said that she was satisfied with how the situation was handled. WOW!!! How could she *possibly* say that? I hope that the Bakersfield District Attorney's office will file charges, but if the daughter is the only surviving relative, then likely they won't. The Glenwood facility's "nurse" (or whatever she was) acted with callous disregard for life. Period.
March 4, 2013 at 4:01 PM
=*= Jeffrey Toomer, the Executive Director of the home is a criminal himself for establishing such a rule. There's no crime in saving a life. The nurse as well as the elderly woman's daughter are fools and have no hart! What if it was them three in that position needing help. God will act in HIS WILL on this matter! People are so controled by money (the root of all evil) that they aloud it to control there better Judgment. A PAY CHECK OVER LIFE, RULES OVER WHAT'S RIGHT. My Name is Alphonzo Pruett and I represent the *FIRST TO FIGHT*
OOORAH!
March 4, 2013 at 4:19 PM
OMG if my parent were in there I would take them right out…..How horrible and what a terrible nurse….I could not believe that one human being or is she human would not help someone…..I am speechless…..
March 4, 2013 at 5:54 PM
And I bet the nurse who refused to help is white. Always whites who do the most evil. Whites. I hate being white! I hate myself!!!! FUCK YOU GOD FOR CREATING WHITE TRASH. I AM ASHAMED OF RACE!
March 4, 2013 at 6:11 PM
The "nurse" at the facility should have her nurses license revoked. She obviously doesn't have the heart of a nurse. Most nurses that I know their compassion would kick in before even thinking about calling 911. I can't think of anyone in the health care industry that could let this happen and sleep at night.
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