Night-time accident:
Mistake cost nursing home residents their lives
All safety regulations were followed, but this did not help to prevent a fatal accident in a retirement home. The resident with dementia had made a fatal mistake when he got up during the night. The home is deeply shocked.
The tragic accident overshadows the retirement home in Bad Leonfelden. An 89-year-old resident fell three meters from a canopy on 22 September and died two days later in hospital.
Call mat did not work
It has now also been clarified how the accident occurred: the pensioner, who suffered from dementia and apparently suffered from sleep disorders and often wandered around the corridor at night, woke up and got up again that night. A so-called call mat, which lay in front of his bed and uses sensors to notify the nursing staff if someone climbs onto it or falls out of bed, had not worked. The senior citizen had presumably stepped over it, as it had no obvious technical defect.
It is not permitted for residents to be restricted in their freedom and mobility. We are therefore not allowed to block doors and windows.
Wolfgang Bräuer, Heimleiter
Windows must not be locked
Then a tragic mix-up may have occurred. Instead of opening the door to the corridor, the Mühlviertel resident opened the window. "The windows must not be locked, unless there is a danger to yourself," explained Wolfgang Bräuer, home manager in Bad Leonfelden, when asked by "Krone": "We are a residential home and must not restrict the freedom of the residents." The 89-year-old managed to get over a fall guard and out of the window and then walked about 25 meters outside on the canopy before falling three meters in the entrance area of the home and hitting the asphalt. Nursing staff on duty became aware of the incident and raised the alarm. The resident was taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his serious injuries.
Fear of being blamed
"The incident is naturally very stressful for the staff," says Bräuer. Especially in times when the topic of care is so much in the spotlight, such accidents would cause even more uncertainty because people are afraid of being blamed, even though all safety regulations have been adhered to.
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