Developmentally Disabled, Nursing Homes Can Be Dangerous Mix
March 6, 2013By DAVE ALTIMARI, JOSH KOVNER and MATTHEW KAUFFMAN, daltimar@courant.com The Hartford Courant, March 5, 2013 Last April, Barbara Vaccaro called a local Italian restaurant and had a plate of ziti and meatballs delivered to her room at the Meridian Manor nursing home in Waterbury. A nurse later found Vaccaro choking on the food. Staff performed CPR but the 58-year-old developmentally disabled woman had stuffed so much food into her mouth that emergency medical technicians couldn’t intubate her. She died at a local hospital.
Just days before her death the staff was instructed to feed Vaccaro, who survived a similar choking incident a year earlier, a soft-food diet and supervise her while she ate. But, state records show, staff were unaware of the food delivery until the nurse entered her room to deliver her roommate’s meal.
Advocates for the developmentally disabled say patients like Vacarro need constant supervision, whether it is because they fall a lot, need a significant amount of medications or have a history of choking. Read more