Resident at Lino Lakes Eloped into Cold
Lino Lakes Assisted Living. According to excerpts from a report from the Minnesota Department of Health, the facility neglected the resident when the resident eloped from the facility. The resident was outside for an unknown amount of time and developed frostbite and hypothermia. The resident
was hospitalized and died in the hospital 11 days later.
Frostbite and Hypothermia Injuries after Roaming from Facility
The Minnesota Department of Health determined neglect was substantiated. The facility was responsible for the maltreatment. The resident was assessed to require safety checks every two to three hours. However, the facility failed to direct staff to check on the resident every two to three hours and instead staff were directed to check on the resident as needed (PRN). The resident eloped from the facility and facility staff were not aware the resident was missing until a neighbor found the resident lying outside. The resident was sent to the hospital and died 11 days later.
According to the MDH report, during an interview, the investigator conducted interviews with facility staff members, including administrative staff,
nursing staff, and unlicensed staff. The investigator also contacted family. The investigation included review of the resident records, death record, hospital records, the facility internal investigation, facility incident reports, personnel files, staff schedules, and related facility policy and procedures. Also, the investigator observed resident interactions with staff.
One staff member said she completed rounds at approximately 10:00 p.m. the evening prior and the resident was in his room. The resident’s medication administration record (MAR) indicated he received bedtime medications at 10:05 p.m. Overnight staff reported no one saw the resident during the night and into the next day. At 7:30 a.m. a day staff member was alerted by a neighbor that the resident was lying on the ground outside. The staff member notified
other staff members for help, staff called EMS and notified the on-call nurse.
AccuWeather.com reported the temperature in Lino Lakes the day the resident was found outside had a low of -14 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and a high of -8 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
The resident’s hospital record indicated he was admitted in critical condition with hypothermia, frostbite, right-sided pneumothorax (collapsed lung), and evidence of head trauma as indicated by a hematoma on the left side of his forehead. Due to the severity of the resident’s frostbite, he was referred to the hospital’s burn team. The resident’s core temperature upon admit was 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The resident had several areas of frostbite and blisters to his back, flank, feet, legs, and hands. During his hospital stay, he went into cardiac arrest, from which he was resuscitated, and then suffered cardiogenic shock (when the heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to the brain and other vital organs). The resident died at the hospital 11 days after admission.
The resident’s death record indicated the resident’s immediate cause of death was complications of resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest, due to environmental cold exposure (hypothermia). The manner of death was documented as an accident.
In conclusion, the Minnesota Department of Health determined neglect was substantiated
Contact An Experienced Attorney to Review Your Case
If you have questions or concerns about someone you love suffering harm due to a lack of supervision and wandering and elopement from a facility, contact Attorney Kenneth LaBore for a Free Consultation at 612-743-9048.
We sue assisted living facilities for negligence.
Our firm handles wrongful death cases, memory care neglect, assisted living neglect, nursing home neglect and abuse and other cases against healthcare providers throughout the state of Minnesota. If your family has a concern about care in a facility call an assisted living wrongful death attorney who knows how to get results for your case.