How the fuck does this happen?

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Scooter
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How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Scooter »

I learned about this because the woman in question is my friend's mother:
Lawsuit: Woman left inside Montgomery assisted living facility van

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The family of an 83-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit saying she suffered a heat stroke from being left in a assisted living facility’s van for six hours.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday against Elmcroft of Montgomery LLC, alleges negligence and outrage.

“We hope to be able to get the full set of facts and find out exactly what happened. This obviously has to be a systemic failure in the system at the facility for something like this to happen," J.P Sawyer, the attorney representing the family, said.

According to the lawsuit, the facility had taken the woman, identified in the documents as Doris Mitchell, on a field trip with other residents on Wednesday. Several hours later, the daughter of Mitchell received a phone call from the facility asking if she had picked up her mother and that she was “missing.” Shortly after, Mitchell was found inside the van which was parked in the facility’s parking lot with the windows rolled up.

“They took five of the residents out for a field trip to look at flowers, and houses and things such as that. Apparently, they returned to the facility at about one o’clock and then at about 5:30 p.m., her daughter received a call that she (Mitchell) was missing from the facility," Sawyer said.

According to the lawsuit, Mitchell was rushed to Jackson Hospital where she was diagnosed with a heat stroke and other medical complications.

“The doctors have told the family you know the longer she’s on a ventilator the less likely she is to make a recovery. Regardless of whether she survives, she’s going to have some very significant deficits as a result of this," Sawyer said. “I’ve been handling these kind of cases for 25 years and I always say nothing shocks me, but this did shock me. It’s just you know unbelievable that they could leave someone on a van for that long and not recognize that she was missing.”

According to Sawyer, Mitchell has dementia and a “hip issue," and that’s why she was residing at Elmcroft. But after this incident, it’s “hard to tell” if she is going to make a full recovery.

“She had dementia, which was the primary reason she was there, and you know with the hip issue, she was unable to take care of herself and she just needed a little rehab and things to get back on her feet," Sawyer said.

Mitchell is still at Jackson Hospital in the intensive care unit.

We reached out to Elmcroft about the incident and received the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our community. Our thoughts are with our resident and their family and we are prepared to offer any support that may be needed during this difficult time. At Elmcroft, the health and safety of our residents remains our top priority. We will continue to cooperate with local and state agencies to provide any support needed.”

The woman’s family has sent WSFA 12 News the following statement regarding the incident:

“What our mother has endured is beyond our comprehension. We are still trying to absorb the appalling circumstances and we provide her the love and care she needs, and we ask for your prayers during this extremely difficult family crisis.”
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BoSoxGal
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by BoSoxGal »

This is a bit less horrifying since the victim wasn’t physically harmed - but still mind-blowing. Shouldn’t the person who sits behind the wheel do a vehicle check before closing up and locking the doors? How much of an imposition is it to expect a simple walk thru on the way out, to check all seats are empty?
A woman has said she was left alone on an Air Canada plane after falling asleep during a flight.

Tiffani Adams said she fell asleep while flying from Quebec to Toronto on 9 June. When she woke up, she was freezing cold and still buckled into her seat, but the aircraft was parked.

She said she had experienced "reoccurring night terrors" since the incident took place.

Air Canada has confirmed the incident occurred and is investigating.

Ms Adams said on Facebook that she woke up "around midnight [a few hours after the flight landed] freezing cold still trapped in my seat in complete darkness."

She said the experience was "terrifying".

Ms Adams managed to call her friend Deanna Dale to let her know where she was when her phone died less than a minute into the call.

She was unable to charge her phone as the plane had been shut down.

Ms Dale called Toronto Pearson Airport and told them of Ms Adams' whereabouts .

While she was on board, Ms Adams managed to locate a torch in the cockpit of the plane and attempted to attract attention.

She was found by a luggage cart operator who she claimed was "in shock".

Ms Adams said that Air Canada staff offered her a limousine and a hotel but she declined, wanting to return home as quickly as possible.

She added that representatives from Air Canada had called her twice as part of the investigation and apologised.

Air Canada confirmed Ms Adams' account to multiple publications and said it was reviewing the incident.
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BoSoxGal
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Scooter, my sympathies are with your friend’s family; I hope their mom recovers. There is no excuse for such negligence.
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Big RR
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Big RR »

Agreed, but I'm not surprised, given the rush to the bottom to get people to take these jobs for basically minimum wages (at least in the US, I had guessed it might be better in Canada, but maybe not).

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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by TPFKA@W »

Big RR wrote:Agreed, but I'm not surprised, given the rush to the bottom to get people to take these jobs for basically minimum wages (at least in the US, I had guessed it might be better in Canada, but maybe not).
Except that generally the starting wage for CNAs is well above minimum wage. In Indiana minimum is around $7.25 or there abouts, and a starting CNA will make around $15 to start. Unfortunately this encourages poorly educated, uncaring and ill-suited people to get into the field since the training is fairly short and frequently free.

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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Big RR »

Thanks @W, I did not know that. I recall working as a nursing assistant/orderly in a nursing home one summer in college, and that was one of the hardest jobs I have had (it was for slightly over minimum wage, but you could have tripled my pay and it would not be enough). I am not surprised that they pay above minimum wage, nor am I surprised this attracts people ill suited to the work. And you're right, watch where you place a loved one--the facilties vary widely, but many have some very dedicated people.

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Scooter
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Scooter »

Someone who left their dog in a car would be facing criminal charges, how is someone(s) not sitting in a jail cell this very minute when something like this happens?
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Lord Jim
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Lord Jim »

Scooter wrote:Someone who left their dog in a car would be facing criminal charges, how is someone(s) not sitting in a jail cell this very minute when something like this happens?
I'm just guessing here, but it could be because up to now nobody called the cops...

Now that the story has attracted some publicity, you may very well see a proper criminal investigation. (It's unfortunate, but a lot of the time publicity is what it takes to get the wheels of justice moving...)
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by MGMcAnick »

It happened because the driver of the van was in a hurry to get everyone unloaded. Drivers are not CNAs. If they are driving a van, they may not be required to even hold a CDL. At least they're not here. He/she probably had several riders, maybe in wheelchairs. He/she probably simply forgot to go back for the last passenger. That is absolutely NO EXCUSE, but probably what happened. I see a lawsuit, and jail time coming.

As for the lady who got locked in the plane, it must have been a very soft landing. That is absolutely NO EXCUSE, but probably what happened. I can't imagine how the cabin crew could have missed her. I don't think the pilots go anywhere in back of the exit door.

That sort of thing has been widely reported about school but drivers who leave a passenger on board. It seems to happen several times every school year, sometimes with deadly results. I think drivers are supposed to check for kids, so if they miss one, they are fired. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE, but unfortunately it happens.

We had a local incident a couple of years ago where a foster father left a baby in a hot car, apparently because he was in a hurry to get into his house so he could smoke the pot he'd just scored. The baby died. He's in prison now.

There have been two local hot-car baby deaths reported this year.
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by MGMcAnick »

BoSoxGal wrote: While she was on board, Ms Adams managed to locate a torch in the cockpit of the plane and attempted to attract attention.
It's a good thing she was in Canada, or she could have burned up the plane
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by BoSoxGal »

In fairness, there has been extensive research on hot car baby deaths and many of them fall into a category of memory failure that is totally explicable within the realm of otherwise deeply caring and responsible parenting.

https://thecrimereport.org/2018/08/21/w ... s-a-child/

That very imperfect analogy aside, these other cases involve circumstances in which the vehicle operator was working as a driver of a public/private transit vehicle, wherein the safe transport of passengers is the primary objective of the job. How that doesn’t include a visual inspection of the vehicle to confirm emptiness at end of travel is just really beyond me.

Here in MA, drivers of school busses are required to do just such an inspection - my niece was the last child on the route the last two years and many times I watched as the driver parked the vehicle in our cul-de-sac and did just such a walk thru after my niece exited the vehicle. It’s also a good time to collect all the lost and found items.

In hot weather, all the passengers of a van should be exited together if going to the same destination - put the van away and then work on getting residents returned to their rooms. If there isn’t sufficient staff to do the transport safely, then field trips aren’t warranted.
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TPFKA@W
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by TPFKA@W »

MGMcAnick wrote:It happened because the driver of the van was in a hurry to get everyone unloaded. Drivers are not CNAs. If they are driving a van, they may not be required to even hold a CDL.
Actually locally those who are taking the people out to activities, and with changes in Medicare reimbursement even doctor appointments, are the people working in the activities department. I am certain they would have to have a CDL to do it, at least fairly certain. I will have to look into that.

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How the fuck does this happen?

Post by RayThom »

A converted van is still just a van.

Federally, a CDL must be obtained by a driver of a vehicle with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds.

I doubt if just a regular van driver would even need to be an accredited CNA unless it is lift equipped -- if that would make a difference.

You'd think that any driver in charge of disabled and/or aging passengers would automatically check the vehicle prior to parking it for the day, but time and time again we read something indicated that is not the case.

You get what you pay for, I suppose.
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rubato
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by rubato »


Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Well, if you start with a large country with a fair bit of heterogeneity and aggregate events over 24 hour intervals I'm guessing the improbable happens every day. It's not like they locked her in a dark airplane now THAT would be an embarrassing fuckup.

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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Burning Petard »

How does it happen? Easy. I see it all the time. People float thru their job with their brain disconnected. I order breakfast in a restaurant and I am asked do I want cream with my coffee? I reply "just black." and they bring out the creamer. At McDonalds the first item on the standard process of taking my order is "will you be eating in or taking out?" I say eating in. The first item on the cash register slip when my order is ready at the pick-up counter is TRAY and yet my order is sitting there in a paper bag. At Boeing the hottest product they have in the pipeline is now sitting on tarmacs's around the world unusable and unsaleable because somebody changed a specification without fully checking out what that change could cascade into. My son tells me (he is a process engineer in a food product chemical plant) that a production manager comes to him unofficially to as what happens if a safety interlock is disconnected, because that interlock has been causing expensive shutdowns in the manufacturing process. The plant manager has already authorized the change and my son is not in the checklist of people to even be informed about the change. He tells the manager that the interlock is required by OSHA safety regulations because in a pure O2 environment under high pressure the steel pipe itself can burn. The manager says none the engineers involved int the review knew anything about this.

On the Boeing situation I refuse to say "the specification was changed." Passive voice is a rhetorical cop-out. "Mistakes were made." NO! people actively did it while their mind was in a passive unthinking mode. Like the van driver at the head of this thread.

We have a general society that assumes thinking and learning is something that you do in school and when you graduate you can forget about it. It happens at every level of responsibility.

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Scooter
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Scooter »

Update - this woman died a few days later; the family has said that lawsuits will be coming.
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Scooter wrote:Update - this woman died a few days later; the family has said that lawsuits will be coming.
Nope — never saw THAT coming.
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Didn’t we get notice of the lawsuit when the OP announced they’d already filed? So this is just converting the previous filing to a wrongful death suit, correct?

My condolences to your friend, Scooter. Losing a parent is always a difficult loss to process, but terrible to have it happen under such circumstances. I hope the legal action prompts this facility to take action to ensure no other such incidents ever occur.
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Scooter
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Scooter »

I suppose that's what they meant, my friend Mark (whose husband Michael is her son), was up here doing some work and gave me the news when we were at a meeting together.
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Re: How the fuck does this happen?

Post by Jarlaxle »

TPFKA@W wrote:
MGMcAnick wrote:It happened because the driver of the van was in a hurry to get everyone unloaded. Drivers are not CNAs. If they are driving a van, they may not be required to even hold a CDL.
Actually locally those who are taking the people out to activities, and with changes in Medicare reimbursement even doctor appointments, are the people working in the activities department. I am certain they would have to have a CDL to do it, at least fairly certain. I will have to look into that.
No, usually just a chauffer's license for a van. Many senior center vans/buses do not have <15 seats, for that very reason. (I also suspect it's cheaper to insure a van than a bus.)
RayThom wrote:A converted van is still just a van.

Federally, a CDL must be obtained by a driver of a vehicle with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds.

I doubt if just a regular van driver would even need to be an accredited CNA unless it is lift equipped -- if that would make a difference.

You'd think that any driver in charge of disabled and/or aging passengers would automatically check the vehicle prior to parking it for the day, but time and time again we read something indicated that is not the case.

You get what you pay for, I suppose.
A CDL is needed for >15 people (including driver)-most assisted-living center vehicles have fewer seats. (If set up for multiple wheelchairs-most are-they don't have room for even 14 passengers.) Many times, the driver is a part-time or contracted employee with little if any medical training, though if so there will be medically-trained staff on the vehicle. (Mine was nothing more than basic first aid & CPR classes.)

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