Senior homes refuse to pick up fallen residents, dial 911. 'Why are they calling us?'

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/05/03/assisted-living-homes-senior-falls-911/

https://archive.ph/Ohza5

Senior homes refuse to pick up fallen residents, dial 911. ‘Why are they calling us?’
Frustrated cities and states have begun fining facilities for nonemergency calls, but some just keep calling
By Todd C. Frankel
May 3, 2024 at 6:02 a.m. EDT

ROCKFORD, Ill. — The 911 call came just before 8 a.m., and Ladder 5's four-man crew scrambled to the truck just as their overnight shift was about to end. It was the kind of call that veteran firefighter Chad Callison said he dreaded.

It was not a heart attack, or a car crash or a building fire.

It was a “lift assist” at Heritage Woods, a local assisted-living facility.

Lift-assist 911 calls from assisted living and other senior homes have spiked by 30 percent nationwide in recent years to nearly 42,000 calls a year, an analysis of fire department emergency call data by The Washington Post has found. That's nearly three times faster than the increase in overall 911 call volume during the same 2019-2022 period, the data shows.

The growth has infuriated first responders who say these kinds of calls — which involve someone who has fallen and is not injured but can't get up — unfairly burden taxpayers and occupy firefighters with nonemergencies that should be handled by staff at facilities that charge residents as much as $7,000 a month.

...

[ismnotwasm]

2. I was a LTC nurse for 11 years. I was a 911 queen, for anything out of my scope of practice.

Last edited Sat May 4, 2024, 11:23 AM - Edit history (1)

Often you can’t “pick up” residents without further injury to them or yourself. I suspect the increase is due to better training on the part of workers.

I’m sorry it burdens the emergency response system, but trust me, you don’t want Meemaw picked up with a head injury and a broken hip without expert stabilization. Add that to the fact that injuries aren’t always apparent, especially in patients with cognitive impairment.

I work in a hospital now, and I can tell you there is a nation-wide emphasis on fall prevention. At my hospital, when a fall occurs, I have an entire team to call to keep patients AND workers safe. LTC facilities don’t have the luxury.

[h2ebits]

4. Excellent answer. . . .thank you!

[Goddessartist]

8. Thank you.

I was a licensed caregiver and I echo your response.

[Tree Lady]

9. Speaking of fall prevention

My state Oregon has a grant through one of the colleges to teach Better Bones and Balance to seniors. I fell a few times last year, second time sprained my wrist, my balance was off. Started class twice a week in October and haven't fallen since.

Great class, I am stronger and have better balance. They should offer this everywhere. I am one of the younger seniors in class and its good to see so many working on it.

[Hugin]

11. It's become the other F-word... n/t

[krkaufman]

17. "LTC facilities don't have the luxury."

I think the point is that it isn't a "luxury." It *should* be part of the services handled by the facilities, and not another opportunity for privatization of profits and socializing the costs.

[dalton99a]

20. +1. There are immense profits in elder care

[ismnotwasm]

25. That is actually a good point

There is a reason I left LTC.

[twodogsbarking]

24. Thanks for the post and what you do. You nailed it.

[JI7]

26. But isn't the point they are making that these places charge a lot of money

so shouldn't they have people that can deal with this ?

[Lonestarblue]

27. For-profit assisted living facilities are supposed to have trained staff to provide care.

That’s why they charge high fees. It seems as though some are refusing to provide the care promised.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

34. At $7000 / month, they should have some professionals on call.

[AmBlue]

36. In Florida...

Shockingly, it is not even required to have one RN on staff. One med tech distributes meds and CNAs typically are all that is required. Very sad. I personally would never want CNAs trying to lift my loved one after a fall.

[RobinA]

43. I Could Be Wrong

but I think PA just passed a law that said there had to be an RN on duty at all times at assisted living facilitates. I know when my Grandmother was in assisted living there was really no professional there most of the time. Not that a single RN is likely to be able to lift someone who can't help themselves.

[lostnfound]

38. Good perspective. Did you notice connections between medicines and falls?

I’ve observed cases of a new condition leading to 3 drugs leading to side effects that lead to 8 drugs..and falls becoming common.

It seems some drugs are so overprescribed, and doctors don’t notice or have time to look for causes of the first condition.

It’s unbelievable how repeating this seems to be.

[shrike3]

3. A woman in a local nursing home was having chest pains.

Pressed and pressed the call button, then finally called 911 because no one was answering. Cops did a room to room search for her and got her to the hospital.

[marble falls]

5. In our town we've been told not to try to pick someone up, to call EMS ...

... for a couple of good reasons: to prevent injury or further injury to the fallen. To prevent injury to those attempting to lift the fallen.

Most care facility workers are trained commensurate to their low wages. Health care workers have a very high rate of work incurred injuries. If I fell, I'd rather be lifted by trained EMS and not by the largely out of shape, under-educated attendants in the 'home'.

Thank provenance I'll be placed in VA home when the time comes. The first two questions I get every appointment at VA they ask: Have you fallen recently and do I feel safe at home. I've had to call EMS four or five times in the last few years to get my neighbor off the ground.

It's not a casual process. They use a large leather belt with loops on it. And four personnel lift. This is after a serious triaging to be sure there are no injuries first.

Also: It gives an opportunity for outsiders to see what seldom scheduled inspections don't in terms of current conditions of the facility. That just might save lives all by itself.

[flying_wahini]

6. Most nursing homes don't have many nurses. Certified Nurses Aides are the folks that do most all

of patient care. I’m sure the staff at the nursing homes are following protocol when they need to call for help. Nursing homes love shaving a few more dollars off the top by doing this instead of hiring more staff.
It’s a very lucrative business for the owners.

[Diamond_Dog]

7. We had to call 911 three times when my mother lived alone and fell.

After the third time, my sister and I told her she was no longer going to be able to live by herself.

One of those times, her neighbor saw her lying on the floor but couldn’t get into the house to help her. Emergency services had to break a window to get in.

So these firefighters/EMTs don’t want to do lift services? Aren’t they getting paid no matter if they’re lifting up a fallen senior and making sure they’re OK or whether they’re fighting a fire? You can’t pick up a 300 lb. senior by yourself who fell and hit his or her head or possibly broke an arm or a hip. Who else can help you?

Maybe group senior homes could consider a contract with services for this, but it’s a service still needed in private homes.

[multigraincracker]

29. They could invest in a Mobil hoist.

Not that expensive to purchase. A must for caring for seniors.

[vanlassie]

30. Did someone say the 911 EMT/firefightwrs

didn’t want to lift people?

[Mariana]

35. "It was the kind of call that veteran firefighter Chad Callison said he dreaded."

Generally, if someone says they dread something, it's because they don't want to do it.

[vanlassie]

37. Ah. I see. They dread having to do their jobs.

Missed that. Thanks.

[Elessar Zappa]

10. It's for safety reasons that 911 is called.

Staff doesn’t want to possibly injure further the resident.

[erronis]

12. Excellent discussion - both the OP and comments.

I'm getting to that point where a fall is soon in my future. I also deliver meals to seniors and I've encountered some that I wish I could help get up but I don't have the strength or coordination any more.

Yesterday in a hospital I was sitting in a waiting room and a person fell just outside of the department. There were doctors and nurses immediately on site but even they called in a specialized team to help with the recovery (I believe the patient was not badly injured.)

[elocs]

41. As a senior, a fall needn't be in your future if you do resistant training to maintain your muscle mass.

It's a key to preventing falls and becoming frail. It can be done using just light weights or bands.
A fall as a senior puts you on the path to a dirt nap or worse, a nursing home.

[Farmer-Rick]

13. There is equipment designed to help lift people

When I was in the hospital visiting a friend we heard a bump and pulled the curtain back to see the large elderly lady roommate on the floor. At that moment, as I stood up to go help her, this tiny nurse came in.

She shooed me away while
rushing to her side. Then she talked on some device, and in about 2 minutes another tiny nurse brought in this weird looking contraption.

I can't even begin to describe it. But in about 3 minutes the elderly lady was back in bed sipping on a soda.

Not every facility wants to spend the money to buy the proper equipment and train people on it. Healthcare in the US is all about capitalism.

[highplainsdem]

14. You're probably talking about a Hoyer lift. Needed for my mom after she had surgery after a bad fall.

[LauraInLA]

16. Yes! That is a mechanical lift, and personnel must be trained to use it. My MIL in Canada

just moved from one memory care (Alzheimer’s) facility to another one because the first place wasn’t lift-certified. She has been falling increasingly often, and the first home’s answer was to keep her in bed 24/7! In the 8 days it took our family to (remotely from NY and CA) find her a new home, her mobility has severely declined. She is now wheelchair bound, though my husband is hopeful that PT will help her walk again. I don’t know . I was surprised to learn how few facilities have lifts and are trained — it’s mostly the more expensive ones. We actually are having to rent a lift just for my MIL!

I have to say, the long term care situation in Canada really doesn’t seem much better than in the States. The health care overall has not been great, either.

[Lettuce Be]

15. My firefighter son said to always call 911 if a fall occurs and they cannot get up

When my mother lived with us (Alzheimer's) my son, a firefighter, told us, if anyone falls, do not try to get them up yourself and risk injury, but call 911. He said that is part of their job and they always respond to that type of call. First responders whining about doing their jobs is a real head-scratcher.

[mopinko]

33. they're whining cuz this isnt a private home.

it’s a place where they get paid a ton of money to take care of ppl who cant live alone.
by definition, picking them up after a fall is part of that service. what they get paid to do.
no, they shouldnt b pushing this off on the tax payers.
esp since i assume these days there arent as many emts as are needed in most places.
someone w no choice cd die while they’re taking care of someone they shouldnt have to.

[markodochartaigh]

18. I'm a 6 foot male RN.

At the large public hospital where I worked for thirty years I was often called to help pick up patients. Many patients were over 200 lbs, some over 300 lbs and up. Thankfully the truly massive patients rarely fell. We had no lift team, and the Hoyer lift was only for use by physical therapy. Most nurses and nurse aides, even today, tend to be over 40 and closer to 5 feet tall. In nursing homes and senior homes this is even more true. Fire fighters, due to the nature of their work, tend to be younger, stronger, and larger.
I certainly hope that the facilities using the fire fighters' services are being appropriately billed, but this seems to be the best solution.

[flamingdem]

19. How about thinking of this as a shared problem

The nursing homes can pay something for a visit or there should be more funding available
for fire stations to handle these calls.

After two or three calls they tell you - in my case I was caring for a family member - to get
thee to a nursing home. So they will tell you their limits.

[stopdiggin]

21. this post (OP) didn't go quite like expected.

It sounds like EMT teams are well aware of why they are getting these calls - even if they perhaps don't like it. These are (potential at least) medical emergencies - where trained personnel is by far the best option to both assess, and assist.
"Somebody else's job .." Except that it isn't.

[JI7]

31. The facilities should have trained personnel

with what they are charging.

[stopdiggin]

32. depending on the facility - some are fairly expensive

and some don't have nearly the budget that many assume.
And health care and 'assisted' facilities are shuttering all the time. Which helps - exactly no one.

[rubbersole]

22. $8,500 a month.

$7,000 must have been a Nursing Home Express...

[Hope22]

23. The US...the only place you can pay 12k a month to a care facility

and still receive a bill from the fire department when a fall happens. That sounds right!

[Hekate]

28. What an incredibly informative thread. TY to all.

[IcyPeas]

39. Do the care homes use this inflatable device? The NHS in Britain use it.

I don't know if it can be used in every circumstance but it seems like something they could have in their toolbox. Or the EMS/Fire Dept. too.

https://gbukgroup.com/products/flojac/

[Takket]

40. excuse me but why the hell are taxpayers funding this for workers the care facility should be hiring???????

[Ziggysmom]

42. Maybe the facility wants the EMTs to check out the patient to help prevent future

lawsuits?
Perfect timing for this article. Saturday my husband fell in a restaurant hallway between their bar and dining area. He was using his cane, but there was a downward slope he didn't see. It was all carpeted, but the decline was not marked or alerted. So he ended up hurting his knee; we are going to the orthopedic clinic this afternoon. The knee is very swollen and warm. Poor guy was doing well after a hip fracture in March 2023, he had put a lot of work into his physical therapy. Makes me so mad! 😡

[Jedi Guy]

44. For falls that don't involve injuries, there are devices the LTC facilities can purchase.

My Dad's health has declined and he falls fairly frequently, so I was researching options that might help my Mom get him back on his feet since she's not strong enough to lift him herself. There are options out there, from an inflatable device that gets the person to a position as if they were sitting on a chair to another that configures itself into a chair and lifts them with it.

Sadly, those devices are out of reach for many because they're quite expensive, but given the often obscene fees LTC facilities charge, a one-time investment for a device to safely get residents back on their feet seems like a no-brainer.

But of course, why sink $7000 into such a thing when they can just call 911 and pay nothing?