Ohio Nursing Home Resident Dies From Hypothermia
Dorotha Gifford wandered outside on February 5, 2009. She walked to a gazebo on the nursing home grounds - her footsteps were visible in the deep snow. She was outside for approximately two hours, in frigid temperatures, dressed in just slacks, a shirt, and shoes.
Ms. Gifford was a resident of the Alzheimer and dementia unit at Heartland of Woodridge. It appears that she just wandered off. Temperatures that day ranged from a high of twenty-seven degrees to a overnight low of eight degrees. Nurses discovered she was missing during an hourly check and began an immediate search. The facility called police around 3:10 p.m., but it was too late. Ms. Gifford was found dead outside - just sixty yards from the facility.
The Ohio Department of Health is investigating the incident and expects that it will take two to four months to complete.
