QuietCare In Action:
Real Life Response Story
We are proud of what we do, because
what we do saves and enhances lives. Our one-of-a-kind early
detection and warning system for seniors living at home was
specially designed to keep the millions of seniors living alone
independent for longer.
At 6:37 pm on February 8th, the
QuietCare emergency response operator was alerted of a possible
bathroom fall in the home of Mary W. of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The
QuietCare emergency response operator called Mrs. W. right away, but
there was no answer. Mrs. W. had fallen in the bathroom and couldn’t
get to her feet to answer the call.
Following protocol, the QuietCare
emergency response operator then immediately contacted her neighbor,
who often checked on Mrs. W. The neighbor checked on Mrs. W.
and told the QuietCare emergency response operator representative
that Mrs. W. was sick and needed an ambulance. Emergency
Medical Services arrived within 10 minutes. Mrs. W. was on her
way to the hospital by 7:00 pm, and her family was notified.
A congestive heart failure patient,
Mrs. W. was treated for pneumonia for 3 days. Mrs. W. told the
medical director of her managed care company that she hadn’t dialed
for help because she couldn’t remember any phone number to call.
She was wearing a PERS pendant, but couldn’t recall what it was for.
Mary W.'s fall demonstrates
QuietCare’s value in analyzing Mrs. W’s condition and triggering an
emergency response. According to studies on individuals with
congestive heart failure (CHF) who also suffer from pneumonia, had
Mrs. W. been unattended for 4 or more hours, she would have spent at
least another 5 days in the hospital (for a total of 8 days) and
would have required between 5 and 10 days of rehabilitation in a
skilled nursing facility. Had she been left unattended for
more than 6 hours, she could have died. At the very least, her
chances of independent living would have greatly diminished, and her
lifespan would have also dramatically decreased.*
* Gurley, R Jan, M.D.;
Nancy Lum, M.S., Merle Sande, M.D., Bernard Lo, M.D., and Mitchell
H. Katz, M.D. “Persons Found in Their Home Helpless or Dead.”
New England Journal of Medicine June 1996. 334(26): 1710-1716.
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