Illinois Nursing Home Resident Struck By Car and Killed After Elopement
In a tragic accident, a 78 year-old nursing home resident was struck and killed after he eloped from an Illinois nursing home facility.
William Spears, a seven year resident of Emeritus at Prospect Heights, walked out of the facility late in the evening on February 23, 2011. Spears, who uses a walker, was attempting to cross Euclid Avenue when a driver stopped and tried to assist him out of the roadway. Spears reportedly refused assistance and was struck by an SUV in the eastbound lane of Euclid. He was rushed to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Illinois Department of Public Health and Prospect Heights police continue to investigate how Spears managed to leave the nursing home facility without assistance.
While we don't know the specifics in this case, it is not uncommon for nursing home residents with dementia to become confused, wander and try to leave nursing home facilities. Nursing home residents suffering from dementia are challenging to care for, but nursing homes know that this is a part of the day-to-day care they are to provide. In fact, many nursing homes advertise that they specialize in caring for those with dementia. To that end, nursing homes are required to assess each resident to determine their risk for wandering. If the risk is there, the facility is to initiate a plan of care specifically designed to care for the residents at high risk for wandering and elopement.
Some aspects to such care plans include:
•To consistently monitor doors—especially during shift changes where residents are particularly inclined to wander
•Place residents that have been characterized "at risk" for wandering closer to nursing stations so that they can be more closely monitored
•Using alarms on the resident's bed, wheelchair or door as well as the residents themselves
•Exit doors should be alarmed to notify staff when residents leave the facility
•Using "Wanderguard" bracelets that sound an alarm if a resident passes a designated spot.
If you suspect that a loved one in a nursing home may be at risk for elopement, contact Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney David Terry for a free no-obligation consultation at 1-888-317-2525 or 314-878-9797. For more details about wandering and elopement of nursing home residents, go here.
