Local: (805)-371-3680 | Toll Free: (800) 240-CHIV
We live in a culture of surveillance; it’s everywhere from the workplace to the home.
For healthcare organizations that reality presents new challenges and risk, as seen in a recent news story from Georgia.
According to USA Today, hidden camera video revealed that a decorated World War II veteran died gasping for breath while staff at his nursing home laughed in front of him.
According to the video released to the media, James Dempsey, 89, of Woodstock, Ga., called for help six times on Feb. 27, 2014, before becoming unconscious while gasping for air.
Dempsey’s family had installed a camera in his room and would not have known what happened at the time of Mr. Dempsey’s death without their surveillance, according to USA Today.
In a video deposition included in the lawsuit records, former nursing supervisor Wanda Nuckles told the family’s lawyer, Mike Prieto, how she rushed to Dempsey’s room when a nurse alerted her that Dempsey had stopped breathing. As she was questioned, she did not know about the camera that had recorded her actions.
Prieto: “From the time you came in, you took over doing chest compressions, … correct?”
Nuckles: “Yes.”
Prieto: “Until the time paramedics arrive, you were giving CPR continuously?”
Nuckles: “Yes.”
However, the video shows no one performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation when Nuckles entered the room. She also did not immediately start CPR herself.
Read more about what happened to Mr. Dempsey at USA Today.com.
This story highlights one challenge risk managers need to think about in today’s age of technology, especially in long-term care settings, says Barry Kramer, Sr. Vice President at Chivaroli & Associates Insurance Services.
