4 March 2013 Last updated at 17:06 ET
Lorraine Bayless death: Inquiry after nurse refuses CPR

Police in California have begun an inquiry into the death of an elderly woman after a nurse at her senior community refused to administer CPR.

The nurse also disregarded an emergency dispatcher's plea to find "anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die" before medics arrived.

She said staff members were not allowed to administer CPR.

The executive director of Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield defended the nurse, saying she had followed policy.

"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Jeffrey Toomer said in a written statement.

The nurse at Glenwood Gardens reportedly called an emergency line after Lorraine Bayless, 87, collapsed and appeared barely to be breathing.

In a tape of the call, dispatcher Tracey Halvorson can be heard saying: "I understand if your boss is telling you, you can't do it but... as a human being... is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?"

"Not at this time," the nurse replies.

The dispatcher suggests the nurse find another staff member - a gardener perhaps - or a passing stranger to help.

Kern County Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Miller said Ms Halvorson followed procedures during the call.

"It's not uncommon to have someone refuse to provide CPR if they physically can't do it, or they're so upset they just can't function,'' Mr Miller said.

"What made this one unique was the way the conversation on the phone went. It was just very frustrating to anyone listening to it."

Bayless was later pronounced dead at Mercy Southwest Hospital. Local broadcaster KGET reports her daughter was satisfied with how Glenwood handled the situation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21664236#

Yes. She did the right thing. As an example, we managed an apartment building. The daughter of one of the older tenants wanted us to be the contact for her "Life alert". We refused, the daughter got angry. But! We couldn't do anything but call 911.

Any "assisted living" facility will instruct their staff to call 911 and that is all. Should they try to assist and something happen, it would leave the facility open for a huge law suit.

BTW, she wasn't a nurse as first reported, but a resident services director.

http://www.classichitsandoldies.com/v2/ ... lity-says/

Should they try to assist and something happen, it would leave the facility open for a huge law suit.

How USian.

Of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

On top of a law suit, she could have, and probably would, have lost her job.

It's not like she was just a passer-by, but an employee of the facility and was bound by their instructions. If she wasn't trained in CPR, she could have done more harm than good.

It's not just the USA oskar, it's everywhere. The "Good Samaritan Law" is quite ambiguous and open to interpretation to specific geographical locations. It's actually so ambiguous I doubt that, in reality, it protects anyone.

"It's actually so ambiguous I doubt that, in reality, it protects anyone."

Just the way the Law "industry" likes it.

In Germany the State Attorney would definitely charge her with "unterlassene Hilfeleistung" (something like "not helping someone in life threatening situation).
Basic CPR is taught in school, again when going for your driver license and in many more ways later in life.
But then, lawyers over there wouldn't dare suing her if something goes wrong either in such a situation. That, imho, is a typical USian thing.

Edit: And if her employer would fire her for helping the labor court would get him by the balls. That would be the employer's most expensive firing ever.

i think i would take the risk. i know it makes me stupid, but i would take it anyway.

It's no wonder that Nazis were able to do what they did.

If someone won't act to save a life for fear of losing their job, imagine how they can be manipulated with the fear of losing their life?

There is a lot of conflicting information on this case, but the woman may have had a Do Not Resusitate (DNR) order in her file. This is a statement (signed by her doctor) of the woman's wishes stating that she does not wish to be resusitated. There are Do Not Intubate (DNI) and Do Not Hospitalize (DNH) orders also.

I had a conversation with a doc a view weeks ago that turned my stomach. The doc was discharging an 86 yo woman who was admitted for shingles back to the nursing home. He stated that she was a broken down old woman that Dr H should designate DNH.

The woman had no real desire to be designated DNH broken down or not!!!!!!!!

Not so ambiguous.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/T ... -98369.php

Arrested. Not indicted or jailed, unless you can find a story.

We don't know what the person did, except refuse to do CPR. I don't know what I would do. One never knows until they are presented with that situation.

I can find tons of article to refute what you are saying, but won't bother. If you're interested, you can look it up.

Some months ago I was walking with a friend at the dog park. He said he wanted a rest and suggested I just go around once without him. By the time I got back he was in the middle of a heart attack. While we waited for the ambulance to get there, three of us perfomed CPR on the guy and it never crossed our minds we could get sued - I don't know that it would have mattered if we had thought about it. I'd like to say the guy recovered, but this is real life and he died before the ambulance arrived.

three of us perfomed CPR on the guy and it never crossed our minds we could get sued -

Why in the world would you get sued?

They may have broken a rib.

Hubby did CPR on my dad the night that he died. It didn't work either. Crash carts are much more effective. I think an aspirin helps a lot, too. I carry a little tube in my purse.

Remind me to check the law before I save your life.

IF a person can be arrested and jailed under the Good Samaritan law for failure to provide assistance, why can't Catholic doctors? Here is one example:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2011/05/09/treatment-denied/


We must also remember that some people freeze in an emergency. Many are scared to death when witnessing something traumatic. Other's may get ill or faint at the sight of blood or bodily harm if there is any present.

I think expecting, or trying to force a human being to act a certain way in an emergency situation is fruitless. Everyone is different and everyone reacts differently. Otherwise we'd all be doctors, nurses or emergency responders.

IF a person can be arrested and jailed under the Good Samaritan law for failure to provide assistance, why can't Catholic doctors? Here is one example:

Good Samaritan laws don't apply to medical professionals.

We must also remember that some people freeze in an emergency. Many are scared to death when witnessing something traumatic. Other's may get ill or faint at the sight of blood or bodily harm if there is any present.

Good Samaritan laws generally refer to "acting in good faith". One generally cannot act at all when panicking or fainting.

I think expecting, or trying to force a human being to act a certain way in an emergency situation is fruitless.

Some Good Samaritan laws oblige only those who can to render assistance. For example, one has no obligation to act if one would be at risk by doing so.

i hope you will all forgive me, but i find the cavalier response that is the thread title hilarious.

i know. i have a very sick sense of humor, right?

right.

"unterlassene Hilfeleistung"

We have something similar here - "Failure to stop and render aid".

As far as I have been able to ascertain, she isn't a nurse. It is an assisted living facility and has no nurse on the staff. People that choose to live there or put their family member there have to know this and know that is a risk they take. I think that a nurse would be mandated to offer care if there were no DNR in place.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -life.html

The woman was NOT a nurse and the deceased did in fact have a DNR. I think that is the end of the story. The woman in question very much had the right to decide how her life would end.

If there was a DNR, why did they call 911?

Good catch, John ~

Sooz

Because they didn't know about it?
Which leads us back to the original point.