The Dickson Firm represents nursing home residents and their families in cases against the owners and the operators of nursing homes throughout the State of Ohio.
Choking is one of the most significant threats to elderly nursing home residents.
We at The Dickson Firm see many cases involving a resident who has choked. Tragically, many of these cases are wrongful death cases. One of the things that happens as a person gets older, is they often develop a condition called "dysphagia". This is difficulty with swallowing. Many nursing home residents have issues with their teeth. Some have dentures. Some wear their dentures. Some do not wear their dentures.
Because of issues with swallowing and choking, many residents are supposed to be on a specific diet. Some people have to have their foods pureed. Some residents are only supposed to have liquids. Many residents are not supposed to eat certain foods that are a choking hazard, like steak, or hot dogs. If they do eat these foods, they need to have them cut up. Many residents are supposed to be monitored while they eat. However, many nursing homes are understaffed, and as a result, the residents are not always monitored while they eat.
We have handled many tragic choking cases. Sometimes, a resident is left alone in their room to eat without supervision. We represented a family of a tragic young girl who had mental challenges. She simply tended to eat way too fast, and stuffed way too much food in her mouth. She was supposed to be monitored while she ate. The nursing home left her to eat in her room unattended day after day, and tragically, she choked to death during a meal. Her death was completely preventable.
If you believe a loved one suffered injuries or has died in a nursing home because of abuse or neglect, please contact The Dickson Law Firm at 1-800-OHIO-LAW to speak with an experienced lawyer today.
All nursing homes in Ohio have an obligation pursuant to federal law to provide their residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents. This applies during meal times. Many residents are care-planned to only eat with supervision, or to only eat with assistance.
The nursing home has an obligation to make sure the resident does not eat unattended because they need help with eating, and they need supervision while eating so they do not choke. The staff needs to monitor what they eat, and how they eat. It is imperative that the staff comply with the care plan that was set up so that each resident is only served certain kinds of foods, prepared a certain way.
The dietitian is obligated to create a care plan that works for the resident. The kitchen is obligated to prepare food for the resident that is appropriate. And the staff is obligated to monitor what is being fed to the residents before that resident is fed to make sure they are not given foods that are unsafe for them.
There are many ways to help a nursing home resident who is choking on food. Oftentimes, putting your fingers in the resident's mouth, and trying to get the food, pushes the food down farther, and makes the condition more severe. Nursing home staff need to be trained in the Heimlich Maneuver to try to use air to pop the food out from the inside. Nursing home staff need to be trained to monitor the signs and symptoms of choking.
We handled a tragic case involving a man who began choking on food, and he got up from the dining room and left, and went to one of the nurses in her office, and tried to communicate to her that he was choking. She did nothing. He then went to another nurse to try to communicate that he was choking. She did nothing. He eventually went to his room and laid down, and ultimately choked to death. Had the staff been trained on identifying the signs and symptoms of a resident who is choking, and trained on how to help a resident who was choking, they could have saved his life. Unfortunately, he tragically died.
The staff of The Dickson Firm has handled numerous cases involving nursing home residents who have tragically choked to death. If someone you love has suffered a choking incident, or any type of injury as a result of being neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm, at 1-800-OHIO LAW as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.
