Posted by Genevieve Gipson (web host) (152.163.213.72) on December 09, 2000 at 07:19:15:
See article from the Akron Beacon Journal below
We commend those workers who were alert to spot the problem and call emergency personnal. But how does a NAs cope when residents die under adverse circumstances and what can we do to help?
This must have been devastating to the nursing assistants and others who worked with these residents.
How do we help good workers in time of crisis? We learned a lot during the hurricaine in NC and these wonderful NAs in Rocky Mt NC told us what helped
them through the worst times - we can make this work for this situation as well.
The NNCNA has sent a note to the NAs in Carriage by the Lake. We encourage you also to send messages of support and encouragement to our sisters and brothers as they work through their own feelings about this unfortunate situation. We have also been in touch with the Ombudsman concerning the need for grief counseling as well.
It is an important to professional growth that NAs can join together to support each other. Looking forward to hearing about your efforts for these NAs.
Genevieve Gipson RN MEd RNC
Career Nurse Assistants Programs, Inc.
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From the Akron Beacon Journal - December 8, 2000
Two Dead From Nursing-Home Accident
BELLBROOK, Ohio (AP) - Two nursing home residents died Thursday and eight others were hospitalized after a nitrogen tank was apparently hooked up to the home's oxygen system by mistake, authorities said.
The stricken residents had all been on an oxygen system at the 84-bed Carriage-by-the-Lake nursing home about 10 miles from Dayton, said Bob Miles, a Washington Township assistant fire chief.
``There was a nitrogen tank hooked into the oxygen system. It was labeled as having nitrogen in the tank,'' Miles said.
Nitrogen displaces oxygen and can cause asphyxia, Miles said. He said medical facilities sometimes use nitrogen to purge lines used to carry air.
Officials at the nursing home declined to comment.
Coroner's investigator Claude Lyons said Pauline Tays, 70, died at the home and Helen Tomlin, 76, was pronounced dead at Kettering Medical Center.
Three patients remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon, Miles said. A hospital spokeswoman said five others were expected to be released to a
different nursing home.
The nitrogen tank looked similar to tanks that contain oxygen, with the nitrogen label the only major distinguishing characteristic.
``We don't suspect any criminal intent here. We feel at this time, it was an ccident,'' the assistant fire chief said.
Sugarcreek Township Fire Chief Randy Pavlak said he was the first to arrive after getting a report that a resident's heart had stopped. Nursing home personnel quickly reported more ailing residents.
``As we were working the cardiac arrest, they came in and said they had one more. And then they told me they had two more,'' Pavlak said. ``As soon as they told me they had a third and a fourth one, my first thought was, `We have some kind of contamination in the building.'''
Upon realizing all the residents shared an oxygen system, Pavlak ordered the system shut down and the residents transferred onto portable oxygen systems.
The nitrogen tank was taken to a crime laboratory in Dayton to verify that its contents were nitrogen.