Falls and bed sores are two of the most common types of nursing home cases the Law Offices of Jeff Martin sees. This post explains when to call a lawyer if a loved one who is a known fall risk gets hurt or develops bed sores, and how understaffing and skipped protocol can lead to broken bones and other serious harm.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I hire a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer for an injured family member?
If your loved one is a fall risk and they’re falling and they’re hurt, or if they have bed sores, you should call a lawyer almost immediately.
Two of the most common types of cases the firm sees are people who are known fall risks, meaning that the facility itself has designated these people as fall risks.
There’s certain protocol, like getting them to the bathroom and making sure that the railing is up. If they’re in a chair, they have to be strapped into a chair a certain way. And if not, then these people have a tendency to fall, and they break bones.
A lot of times, when an elderly person breaks their hip, it’s over. But for the break of their hip, they may have some life left for a while, decent quality of life left. But if they fall and break their hip, that’s almost a death sentence.
It’s disgusting because a lot of times these facilities are understaffed because of profits over people. The owners, and especially these big corporations that own them, are looking to maximize the bottom line. So they don’t pay people what they should, and they don’t keep the staff full like they should, and problems happen.
If your loved one has a bed sore, bed sores are almost 100% preventable. You have people who are in long-term comas in hospitals that never get bed sores. They’re in comas for years. They don’t get bed sores. Why? Because the hospital’s following protocol.
If protocol was being followed, your loved one would not get a bed sore. But the problem is that a lot of these nursing homes will leave these folks sitting oftentimes in their own filth for hours, days at a time. It’s absolutely horrible.
Talk to a Tulsa nursing home abuse lawyer about your family’s case
The Law Offices of Jeff Martin is based in Tulsa and represents families after nursing home abuse in Broken Arrow, Owasso, Bixby, Jenks, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Claremore and throughout Oklahoma. Case reviews are free, and there’s no fee unless we win.
Call 918-728-8888, answered 24/7, or request a free case review.
This post is for general information and isn’t legal advice.
