Man Dies In Sleep Center ...

aprilshowers

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His mother, said staff did not properly watch over her son, and he repeatedly gestured for help that did not come.

"Brandon did not receive the appropriate care from (the sleep center). Actually, in my opinion, he received no care at all."

Emory, in a statement, said that Harris died of sudden cardiac arrest and the hospital attended to him appropriately.


Harris' uncle, said the hospital allowed him to watch video footage of his nephew at the sleep center and he said there was negligence in monitoring Harris. The tape showed Harris waving seven times over 40 minutes apparently to draw someone's attention but no one responded, Lewis said.


A nurse responded when Harris removed sensors from his body. Harris walked to a nearby restroom and the nurse left, and he returned to the room and to bed.


Three nurses later entered the room and Harris appeared to be in discomfort. He tried to get up, lost his balance and fell, bringing emergency personnel, the uncle said.


"There is no reason he should have been neglected like that," Lewis said.


More at link: http://www.ajc.com/news/man-dies-during-emory-294250.html



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This is TERRIBLE! I can't even imagine how his parents feel! When I look at Harris, I think of a little boy, a mother's child/son .... and it breaks my heart!


And NOW ... there's to be NO investigation into this! WHY???


See here >>> http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/coroner-no-investigation-into-293531.html
 
I'm very sad to read this. Hospitals need to watch over their pts. No great news here about the neglect. Hear and see it all the time. It seems that many appear to not to do their jobs anymore. Makes me sick. This should never have taken place if anyone was aware. I don't think many of the people seem to be monitoring their pts. and I find it odd he died in a sleep center of all places....

RIP.


Goz
 
I agree that it's odd, but not sure if there was neglect.
I have spent 2 nights at a sleep study clinic, they hook up so many monitores to you and everything is recorded. It seems to me that if someone was really in destress that it would be caught very quickly.
I wonder how many they have there on staff for the clinic? The 1 I was at had only 1 person and they had 2 bedrooms so it's possible they would be busy with the other person and something could be missed.
I do find it interesting that they said no medication was given. My Dr had an order for me to take ambien if I was not able to go to sleep while there, I didn't need it since I brought my medication with me which helps me to sleep.

VB
 
VB- When I was in a sleep center, (many years ago) I didn't know how many pts. were there. I had no access to anyone. Also, since they were trying to find a dx they took me off my meds. and I could not take any sleeping pills. I must have stayed up the whole night. I feel they may have been negflectful to this pt. as he seemed to be struggling by the story. I guess we may have to wait for the Lawsuit to know the exact facts.

Good day to you. Thanks for your input.

Goz
 
How sad. Heart breaking.

My mom was sick last year. She's elderly, and of course waited on going to the Doctor. She had this cough among other symptoms and the regular Doctor advised us to a Pulmonary specialist.

Tough old bird that she is my mom made it to this specialist. Barley. Having a hard time catching any breath. The I guess tech took vitals and turns to me and says "Her heart rate is a little over 200. Is it always like that?" Nooooooo! But hey I'm waiting on a Doctor. The Doc comes in with his laptop and asks a bunch of questions. Listens to her chest and says "She needs to go to a sleep clinic. You can set the appointment up at the desk." Like a knit wit I do while my mom's sitting there looking like God knows what.

Intersting when they called the next week to confirm. I informed them she had congestive heart failure and they could catch up with her at the local hospital she'd been in for a week.

Not to take away from this poor man's death but wanted to just remind everyone that we have to advocate for ourselves. Often we can't. One would think these people know what the he*l they're doing.

That's a sin for this family.
 
Yes Filly, we do have to advocate for ourselves.

Prayers for your mom....


Goz
 
If you look at his photo, he appears to be rather overweight. If he died from sudden cardiac arrest, I have no idea what do you think the clinic could have done?
It's not like he collapsed and then wasn't attended to.
From the description of the tape, he waved, but then got up to go to the restroom. The nurse responded before he went to the restroom, so if he knew he needed urgent help, it doesn't sound like he asked for it then. I am guessing he didn't know he needed urgent help. When he came back from the restroom, the three nurses came in, and then he tried to get up but fell (collapsed), and the emergency medical personnel came in. So, I don't understand, what would be the negligence?
 
Well I will be at the sleep study center tonight. I will ask them if they have any thoughts on this.
 


he was a pretty large man. Who's brilliant idea was it to let a man this size participate in a sleep study? Clearly, his weight was likely a culprit with any sleep issues. First thing that comes to mind is his own snoring likely woke him and the weight on his body caused sleep problems. That from a 'lay person' with no medical background other than what I read.

The first article indicates he got up, walked around, and waved 7 times for assistance. Why did he not use the alert button attached to hospital beds? He was observed walking to a restroom and back, also from the link posted in the OP.

I'm really having a hard time seeing any neglect on the hospitals part, other than the decision to allow someone who was not just 'overweight' as the family described, but obese to participate in a sleep study. IMO, the family would have to look at other participants in sleep studies close to this mans weight, and why his earlier actions demonstrated cause for concern and then neglect.

Not getting the families claims.

I imagine there was also a disclosure of some kind, most likely signed by the participant which explained the hospitals procedures. If it wasn't to his liking, he had the opportunity to ask reguarding any concerns, no?

I think this guy was a heart attack waiting to happen at any time at his weight. Sad, but true. So if there are any 'repercussions' to be had, it woud have to be the decision on allowing somone his size to participate in such a study and something lacking in the disclosure for participants.
 
I am not sure why you think an overweight person shouldn't be participating in a sleep study? Overweight people do all kind of things.
 
Filly for the sleep studies I went to, it was not a regular hospital room. The rooms used were seperated from a regular hospital room area, much more secluded and the bed etc were regular beds much like you'd find at a hotel. Everything was done to make it comfortable for the person staying there. There was no button to push for calling a nurse, there was no nurse, only the person who stayed there throughout the night to hook you up, observe you by viewing the video cameras that were on you all night long while all the monitores hooked up to you recorded how you slept. There was an intercom open so if I needed to get up out of bed all I had to do was call out for him and he could hear me.
He was a very talkative person and talked about seeing some really wild things while people were there sleeping, I really don't think seeing someone waving their arms out etc would be all that unusual, people who are having sleep problems can do many things.
My thoughts are that he was having health problems, possibly sleep apnea, and so his Dr needed the sleep study done to be able to prove it so the care would be covered by insurance. Sleep apnea can affect many things, including blood pressure and weight.
Not everyone having sleep apnea is overweight, I was told that the worse case they saw at the hospital I was at was a very slender woman.

I am sure him dying at the hospital came as quite a shock to his family. It's not like he was in the hospital after a heart attack or something, he was simply there to spend the night and then leave in the morning.
I hope his family can get all their answers they need but I'm just not sure on if there was any real neglect.

VB
 
He was probably not motioning for someone because of his heart, but because he had to go to the bathroom. I've done a sleep study, and all I had to do when I wanted to go to the bathroom was say to so out loud. If you want to get up to pee, a nurse has to come unhook you from the sensors. Then they have to hook you all back up when you're done. It takes time to do all that unhooking and re-hooking. If he was in distress there was plenty of opportunity for him to tell them. I don't think he was. This wasn't a heart attack but sudden cardiac arrest. There's a big difference with the two. With sudden cardiac arrest, in most cases, there are no warning signs or symptoms.

I think his heart stopped suddenly and there was nothing they could do. It wasn't like they found him the next morning dead. It says that 3 nurses were in the room when he got up and then fell. I personally think he fell because he was in sudden cardiac arrest. He was probably dead before he even hit the floor or bed or whatever he landed on. In such cases, there is a slim chance of resuscitation and then a slim chance of living after that. This man still would have died if he had been at home. Sleep studies don't cause cardiac arrest. I don't see any negligence here, except for the man and his own health. :twocents:
 
He was probably not motioning for someone because of his heart, but because he had to go to the bathroom. I've done a sleep study, and all I had to do when I wanted to go to the bathroom was say to so out loud. If you want to get up to pee, a nurse has to come unhook you from the sensors. Then they have to hook you all back up when you're done. It takes time to do all that unhooking and re-hooking. If he was in distress there was plenty of opportunity for him to tell them. I don't think he was. This wasn't a heart attack but sudden cardiac arrest. There's a big difference with the two. With sudden cardiac arrest, in most cases, there are no warning signs or symptoms.

I think his heart stopped suddenly and there was nothing they could do. It wasn't like they found him the next morning dead. It says that 3 nurses were in the room when he got up and then fell. I personally think he fell because he was in sudden cardiac arrest. He was probably dead before he even hit the floor or bed or whatever he landed on. In such cases, there is a slim chance of resuscitation and then a slim chance of living after that. This man still would have died if he had been at home. Sleep studies don't cause cardiac arrest. I don't see any negligence here, except for the man and his own health. :twocents:

I agree. He was waiving before he got up to go to the restroom. The nurse was in the room when he got up to go to the restroom. If he needed urgent help and knew it, then he could have informed the nurse about it then. He appears to be overweight in his photo and the heart has harder time pumping blood to a heavier body.
 
I don't think there was negligence. He could've just as easily been at home or school or wherever when this occured. It seems they tried to save his life and couldn't. I don't see how that's negligible but that's just my opinion.
 
I just this minute got hom from my sleep study. :) I asked the tech about it and she said their supervisor brought this article to them immediately and had them all read it. She said they of course take these things very seriously and it may cause some changes in their faciltiy.
But,the sleep center I was at was not any kind of emergency facility, it was just bedrooms in a medical building. So the most they could have done was to call 911, they are not equipped or trained to deal with cardiac arrest or other emergency medical situations. They are not first responders and are trained in sleep study.

As far as being overweight, I think many of the people that have sleep studies ordered are overweight and that is exactly why they are checking for sleep apnea. Most of the people at the center when I was there overnight were heavy and that was the reason for their visit. I am small but she said that small people often suffer from the worst apnea so it can go either way. But I just wanted to clarify that the fact that he was overweight probably had everything to do with his visit.

My tech told me that she would not have been overly concerned about cardiac arrest, even though he had heart trouble, because he was so young. She said from time to time she walks down the hall and grabs a cup of coffee, only gone for a moment. But, she said she never does that if she has elderly or fragile patients. Now, she said she will never do that based on this one case.

She also told me not to wave to her if I needed help, but rather to remove the clamp on my finger that checks your oxygen level. She said when that is disconnected it raises the red flag and she will know it right away. She said waving is not efficient but the finger monitor was. I thougt that was clever and simple to get help.
 
He was probably not motioning for someone because of his heart, but because he had to go to the bathroom. I've done a sleep study, and all I had to do when I wanted to go to the bathroom was say to so out loud. If you want to get up to pee, a nurse has to come unhook you from the sensors. Then they have to hook you all back up when you're done. It takes time to do all that unhooking and re-hooking. If he was in distress there was plenty of opportunity for him to tell them. I don't think he was. This wasn't a heart attack but sudden cardiac arrest. There's a big difference with the two. With sudden cardiac arrest, in most cases, there are no warning signs or symptoms.

I think his heart stopped suddenly and there was nothing they could do. It wasn't like they found him the next morning dead. It says that 3 nurses were in the room when he got up and then fell. I personally think he fell because he was in sudden cardiac arrest. He was probably dead before he even hit the floor or bed or whatever he landed on. In such cases, there is a slim chance of resuscitation and then a slim chance of living after that. This man still would have died if he had been at home. Sleep studies don't cause cardiac arrest. I don't see any negligence here, except for the man and his own health. :twocents:

You know, your post got me thinking .... couldn't they have used the Defibrillator? If they acted fast enough ... could he have been revived?

And when you say 'he was probably dead before he even hit the floor' ... I ponder this. Even if the heart stops .. it can be revived, no? And isn't there a certain number of minutes, it can be stopped, without irreversible damage, or no chance of revival?

Just wondering ...
 
I just this minute got hom from my sleep study. :) I asked the tech about it and she said their supervisor brought this article to them immediately and had them all read it. She said they of course take these things very seriously and it may cause some changes in their faciltiy.
But,the sleep center I was at was not any kind of emergency facility, it was just bedrooms in a medical building. So the most they could have done was to call 911, they are not equipped or trained to deal with cardiac arrest or other emergency medical situations. They are not first responders are trained in sleep study.

As far as being overweight, I think many of the people that have sleep studies ordered are overweight and that is exactly why they are checking for sleep apnea. Most of the people at the center when I was there overnight were heavy and that was the reason for their visit. I am small but she said that small people often suffer from the worst apnea so it can go either way. But I just wanted to clarify that the fact that he was overweight probably had everything to do with his visit.

My tech told me that she would not have been overly concerned about cardiac arrest, even though he had heart trouble, because he was so young. She said from time to time she walks down the hall and grabs a cup of coffee, only gone for a moment. But, she said she never does that if she has elderly or fragile patients. Now, she said she will never do that based on this one case.

She also told me not to wave to her if I needed help, but rather to remove the clamp on my finger that checks your oxygen level. She said when that is disconnected it raises the red flag and she will know it right away. She said waving is not efficient but the finger monitor was. I thougt that was clever and simple to get help.

Thanks for the information. But it's not like he waived and then gone into cardiac arrest. He waved, then got up to go to the restroom, and he had an opportunity to tell the nurse if anything was wrong when he went into the restroom.
So I agree with the poster who suggested he probably was waiving because he wanted to go to the restroom.
 
You know, your post got me thinking .... couldn't they have used the Defibrillator? If they acted fast enough ... could he have been revived?

And when you say 'he was probably dead before he even hit the floor' ... I ponder this. Even if the heart stops .. it can be revived, no? And isn't there a certain number of minutes, it can be stopped, without irreversible damage, or no chance of revival?

Just wondering ...

How do we know what they did or didn't use? After he collapsed, the article says that emergency personnel came in.
I presume the emergency personnel would try to use whatever was necessary.
 
Thanks for the information. But it's not like he waived and then gone into cardiac arrest. He waved, then got up to go to the restroom, and he had an opportunity to tell the nurse if anything was wrong when he went into the restroom.
So I agree with the poster who suggested he probably was waiving because he wanted to go to the restroom.
Oh I totally understand that. I was just sharing how the facility I was at last night gets you help, much more efficient than waving whether it is to use the restroom or for an emergency.

I asked the tech about the story when I first walked in and she said oh! I was hoping no one coming here saw that story LOL. I said not a chance I read Websleuths.hehehe
 

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