Unreal 9-1-1 nightmare: Nurse refuses to save dying woman by doing CPR

'Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?'

WND: It’s nothing short of a 9-1-1 nightmare, as an emergency dispatcher begs a nurse to perform CPR on a woman who wasn’t breathing and eventually died.

What’s shocking is the nurse not only refused to perform the CPR, she also refused to hand the cell phone to anyone else to help the dying woman.

Authorities have just released the chilling audiotape of the 9-1-1 call, where the 87-year-old woman at the Glenwood Gardens Retirement Facility in Bakersfield, Calif., was passed out on the dining-room floor.

When the dispatcher asks, “Is she breathing?” the caller replies, “‘Is she breathing?’ Barely.”

When asked to perform CPR, the nurse can be heard saying, “Yeah, we can’t do CPR at this facility.”

The dispatcher then says, “OK, then hand the phone to the passerby. If you can’t do it, I need, hand it to the passerby, I’ll have her do it. Or if you’ve got any citizens there, I’ll have them do it.”

“No, no, it’s not,” the nurse says. 

Complete audio of the 9-1-1 call can be heard here:

Raw Audio:  911 Call of Dying Woman Refused CPR…

The dispatcher said, “Anybody there can do CPR. Give them the phone, please. … This woman’s not breathing enough. She’s going to die if we don’t get this started.”

With time a crucial factor, the female dispatcher tries desperately to convince the nurse to take action, lamenting, “I don’t understand why you’re not willing to help this patient. Is there anybody that works there that’s willing to do it?”

“We can’t do that,” the nurse says. “That’s what I’m trying to say.”

“Are we just going to let this lady die?” the dispatcher says.

“Well, that’s why we’re calling 9-1-1,” the nurse replies.

“Is there a gardener … any staff? Anybody that doesn’t work for you, anywhere?” the dispatcher asks.”Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady? As a human being, I don’t, you know, is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”

The nurse replies, “Um, not at this time.”

It was too late to save the woman by the time paramedics arrived.

“Our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives,” Jeffrey Toomer, executive director of Glenwood Gardens, said in a statement to NBC’s “Today” show. “That is the protocol we followed.”

Maribeth Bersani, of the Assisted Living Federation of America, told CBS News: “There’s no requirement that the people in the building be trained to perform CPR, so a company could state in a policy they don’t want anyone to initiate CPR.”

Jack Ford, a legal analyst for CBS, called the scenario “morally reprehensible,” and said the question involves, “a legal responsibility and legal liability.”

Raw Video: 911 Recording:  Did Liability Fears Lead to Woman’s Death?

Ford said: “What’s the agreement that this woman and her family had with this home, and … it was a residential facility, not a nursing home, assisted living. Very different if it was that. So if in their agreement they say specifically, ‘We do not provide emergency medical care. We will get somebody for you,’ then that could shield them from some problems. Then other question is, what are your reasonable expectations. When they sold this as a sales pitch, did they say, ‘Look, we have wonderful workout facilities, wonderful dining facilities and we have medical people on site here.’ Well, you know then, despite what might be in the agreement there, you have a reasonable expectation.”

As for the woman who refused to help, Ford said she was apparently told something as an employee.

“She may well be in a tough position,” he noted . “If she was told by her employers, ‘You cannot do this, if you do, you’re in violation, and you’ll lose your job.’ Now you have a woman being told, do I try to save someone’s life and by doing so, do I risk my own job for doing it. That’s why you have to look to the employers. The reality is, some states, you are starting to pass Good Samaritan laws that say you can’t be sued if you try to stop and help somebody, the reason is people sue you sometimes if you try to stop and help somebody. You have to look at the culture of society here, the litigious nature of society. It just – it’s a terrible tragedy.”

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FAST Test for Stroke Symtoms

Did you know strokes are the third-leading cause of death in Americans, and leave hundreds of thousands more disabled?

Almost five million Americans have had a stroke at some point in their lives, and an additional quarter of a million Americans will suffer strokes this year alone.

In many cases, a stroke occurs without warning. Yet, for a number of people there will be signs. Unfortunately, many people, especially women, ignore them. Before the big one hits, there are usually several episodes of mild neurological symptoms, such as sudden numbness of one side of the face or an arm. This may last only seconds and then pass.

Other people often spot the problem first. They may notice that one side of the person’s face seems to sag, or that they make little sense when speaking. Sometimes the person isn’t walking right. Ignoring these symptoms can lead to disaster.

Be aware of common thoughts some stroke victims have had prior to a stroke:

• “I must have been leaning on my arm.”
• “I must be hungry.”
• “I can’t think of the words I want.”

And get to know the symptoms I describe so you can take advantage of the window of opportunity to treat a stroke. To help people recognize the symptoms of stroke quickly, The Stroke Association has come up with the FAST (face, arms, speech, timing) test:

Face: Ask the person to smile. If the upper or lower face on one side is weak or does not move, it may indicate a stroke.

Arms: Ask your loved one to raise their arms out straight. Weakness in one arm is a sign of a stroke.

Speech: Have them say a simple sentence. Garbled speech, word searching or nonsense speech can indicate a stroke.

Timing: Call 911 if any one of these is present. While they do not always indicate a stroke, time is of the essence.

Taking an aspirin when symptoms first occur, for instance, can prevent most strokes, but it is important to use this time to get to your doctor for a proper workup. For more, please read my report 

You can also cut your risk of a deadly stroke if you make sure your blood pressure is under control. ditions that can lead to stroke.

Source:  Dr. Blaylock