Nursing Home Smoking & Burn Accidents

Residents in a nursing home should be protected from danger when they are admitted into an assisted or long-term care facility.

There is a real harm, however, to a number of residents sustaining injuries from nursing home smoking & burn accidents within the facility.

Many residents at a nursing home sustain burns, even lose lives because of carelessness of staff, or from a lack of safety by the administration and nursing home staff.

Many of the burn and fire risks, which in and of itself is a tragedy, can be preventable.

Personal injury lawyers are aware of the catastrophe a burn can create immediately subsequent to an incident, and within the recovery period.

If a family member sustained a burn related to a circumstance, or due to mere smoking, contact an attorney for a case review immediately.

In a nursing home, the threat of a fire can pose grave danger to many residents in the facility who are being cared for regularly.

For the patients, due to medical issues and lack of mobility, attempting to evacuate a crowd of people could have catastrophic results.

Research in accountability estimates that over 2,000 nursing facilities can suffer from fires annually.

In one year, an average of 30 deaths related to fires at nursing homes can result from failure to install sprinkler systems.

Thus, nursing homes should be held liable at all costs in preventing fires, especially with so many logistics at stake.

Nursing home smoking & burn accidents can result in fires at the facilities, such as the following:

Enabling smoking indoors by residents can place all patients at risk of secondhand smoke and fire exposure.

Issued by the U.S. Fire Administration, there is a report that smoking among the elderly is the prime cause of fire fatalities.
 Left unsupervised and burning, candles can be likely fire risks.

Elderly patients are typically prone from medications to fall asleep, or from various influences, while in their room a candle was left burning.

Nursing facilities are typically at a higher risk for catastrophic fires because of many patients obtaining pressurized oxygen, and flammable gases in abundance, as well as electrical equipment, which can perpetuate and start fires.

The elderly possess a high-risk to injuries and fatalities in a fire.

Fire fatalities are reported to be double the national average for individuals over 75 years old, and quadruple for individuals over 85 years old.

Reduced hearing, eyesight, and mobility can be factors in reasons why elderly individuals are at a higher risk in fire fatalities.

Nursing home smoking & burn accidents can be due to residents smoking indoors.

While many localities and states have banned or restricted smoking in public, namely in medical facilities, the regulation is not federal.

Nursing facilities can place patients at medical and fire risks by enabling smoking within facilities, and may be held liable in protecting patients during smoking accidents.

Contact us for a free consultation or call Anzalone Law Firm PLLC, at: 603.548.3797.