Seat belt kills nursing home resident

By Bob Joe - Published on Sunday, 13 March 2011 19:06

Fong Sue Louis, 77, died in a nursing home when she was attempting to escape the restraints of her wheelchair. Fong was placed in a wheelchair as a result of her declining health and low staffing levels.

"At 5:10 a.m. on Aug. 2, a health care aide discovered Louis dead, sitting sideways on the floor, with one seatbelt undone and the second one still clasped and pinning her neck to the wheelchair seat.

In his report, provincial court judge Mark Tyndale said a specialized group of therapists to which difficult seating residents could be referred, should be consulted as soon as wheelchair issues are raised.

"If a resident is up at night and in a wheelchair, the door to the resident's room should be left open, or the resident brought to the area of the nurses' station, in order to enable easy observation," he added."