This one hit close to home for me since senior care has been my post-retirement avocation. Despite a large and growing population of people approaching the end of life, most people have no idea what that means during that transitional stage between a fulfilling retirement and the very end.
I can tell you that between independent living and long term care (also called "skilled nursing" or "nursing home") there is a wide range of so-called assisted living arrangements with an unimaginable variety of standards and environments. Staff may or may not be trained or required to administer CPR or emergency first aid. Say hello to states rights and limited regulatory oversight. And give a big wave to the lawyers.
(Estimates vary, incidentally, but survival rates after bystander CPR are under five percent, and that includes all ages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation#Effectiveness)
Once again, this underscores the importance of a proper advance directive for medical care for everyone 60 or over, properly witnessed and filed with at least three named agents who know who they are and have agreed to the responsibility, updated every three years or less.
Anybody who blows off this responsibility by saying "Oh, I have a living will" is not well informed about many decisions that may need to be made in advance (including what policies and emergency procedures are in place where you live).
This is an important story but it was a preventable tragedy.
2 comments:
This one hit close to home for me since senior care has been my post-retirement avocation. Despite a large and growing population of people approaching the end of life, most people have no idea what that means during that transitional stage between a fulfilling retirement and the very end.
I can tell you that between independent living and long term care (also called "skilled nursing" or "nursing home") there is a wide range of so-called assisted living arrangements with an unimaginable variety of standards and environments. Staff may or may not be trained or required to administer CPR or emergency first aid. Say hello to states rights and limited regulatory oversight. And give a big wave to the lawyers.
(Estimates vary, incidentally, but survival rates after bystander CPR are under five percent, and that includes all ages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation#Effectiveness)
Once again, this underscores the importance of a proper advance directive for medical care for everyone 60 or over, properly witnessed and filed with at least three named agents who know who they are and have agreed to the responsibility, updated every three years or less.
Anybody who blows off this responsibility by saying "Oh, I have a living will" is not well informed about many decisions that may need to be made in advance (including what policies and emergency procedures are in place where you live).
This is an important story but it was a preventable tragedy.
John,
Thanks for the information. This is a very sad case.
Michael
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