Woman presumed dead was found gasping for air in body bag at Iowa funeral home

A hospice facility in Iowa has been fined $10,000 after it mistakenly presumed a lady useless hours earlier than she was found gasping for air inside a physique bag at a funeral dwelling, officers mentioned.

A nurse at Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Particular Care Heart in Urbandale decided that the 66-year-old lady had died on Jan. 3, and the resident was transferred to a funeral dwelling, the Iowa Division of Inspections and Appeals mentioned in a report issued Wednesday.

The lady, who has not been publicly recognized, was admitted to hospice care Dec. 28 due to “senile degeneration of the mind,” the report says.

At 6 a.m. Jan. 3, a nurse checked on the affected person and located no indicators of life, in response to the report.

Her “mouth was open, her eyes have been mounted, and there have been no breath sounds,” the report says, including {that a} nurse was unable to find the lady’s pulse utilizing her stethoscope.

The nurse put her hand on the lady’s stomach and “famous no motion,” the report says. The nurse presumed the resident had died and notified a member of the family and the on-call hospice nurse, in response to the report.

“Hospice agreed to name the funeral dwelling and did so,” it says.

Practically an hour and 40 minutes later, a funeral director positioned the lady’s physique on a gurney “inside a fabric bag and zipped it shut,” the report says. The director left with the lady about 10 minutes later, the report says. Shortly earlier than 8:30 a.m., workers members on the funeral dwelling found that the lady was nonetheless alive, the report says.

“Funeral dwelling workers unzipped the bag and noticed Resident #1’s chest was transferring and she or he was gasping for air. The funeral dwelling then known as 911 and hospice,” the report says.

When EMS personnel arrived, they recorded the lady’s pulse and famous she had no eye motion or verbal, vocal or motor response, in response to the report.

The lady was taken to the emergency room. She was returned to the hospice facility and died along with her household at her facet two days later, in response to the state report.

The state fined the power $10,000, the utmost allowed below Iowa legislation, mentioned a spokesperson for the state Division of Inspections and Appeals.

A state quotation dated Wednesday mentioned that the power “failed to supply sufficient path to make sure acceptable cares and companies have been supplied” and that it failed to make sure she acquired “dignified therapy and care at finish of life.”

The hospice facility’s govt director mentioned representatives have been in contact with the resident’s household.

“We care deeply for our residents and stay absolutely dedicated to supporting their end-of-life care,” Government Director Lisa Eastman mentioned in a press release. “All workers bear common coaching to allow them to finest assist end-of-life care and the dying of our residents.”