Staff not trained to help

Re. Tammy Nagy's letter Concerns with mom's care (Nov. 26)

A daughter wrote about her mother's experience in a care home.

That is an often used generic term referring to a living unit for the elderly in an apartment-like setting.

There are various levels of care those places contractually provide. The lowest level (of provided care) is independent living. Generally, all that is provided in that setting is a place to live similar to an apartment. There are staff provided in the building and by contract, things like meals, some social activities and organized entertainment is normally provided. No medical care or assistance is promised.

I'm pretty sure, from my similar experiences with my mother, the responsibilities as far as the staff are concerned, are spelled out in the contract facility staff have the resident sign prior to moving in.

Most, if not all, of the staff at an independent living residence are not trained to provide medical care or assistance at any level. This is normally made clear in the contract.

In the letter writer’s case, with her mom down on the floor, all the staff is trained to do is summon help from trained providers such as the ambulance service. They have no training in getting down and physically doing anything with the fallen resident and indeed, lacking any training, could actually cause more harm.

I'm sure the staff members in those cases would like to help, it’s a normal reaction. But lacking in training, I'm sure they are well aware their involvement can only be to summon help and not get physically involved.

It's sad people can't just jump in and help these days but with lawyers and civil suits lurking around every corner, they must, by contract, not get involved beyond summoning trained professionals.

The (letter writer) asks whether she should initiate a lawsuit against the home or employees. It's her right to seek legal counsel.

Whether she might succeed in pressing such a claim is doubtful.

Most care homes these days, including independent living, are run by large corporations with teams of lawyers on call. The contracts signed by residents are usually looked on as “bullet-proof” but you never know what your lawyer might be able to accomplish.

Alan Sanderson