Choked to Death

People who live in care homes often require very close supervision and help with everything. Those who decide to work there often do not realise how difficult it is. So, a young woman who worked in a care home in Lincolnshire probably also did not realise how stressful it can be when a fatal incident happened. It was then subject to consideration at an inquest at the Coroner's Court in Boston in March 2018. But, what exactly happened?

The inquest related to a death of a 73 years old man. He died from choking while the young woman was feeding him. His difficulty with swallowing was a side effect of dementia. It was a natural death relating to his illness but the coroner considered whether the staff of the care home handled it appropriately.

When he started choking she hit him on the back a few times until he spit the food out. But, when he started to cough again she ran out to another room to tell her colleague about it. He immediately came to the room but he did not notice any symptoms of choking as the older man was neither red nor fighting for breath.

Nevertheless, he checked his throat to make sure that it was empty. He also checked that he was breathing. After that he told the girl to give him a little bit of tea which she did. But, the patient did not swallow it so she called her colleague for a second time. This time, when he noticed that the man is sitting in the same position with his mouth opened he went to call a nurse. She came to realise that he died. But, because the elderly man stated before his death that he does not want resuscitation, nothing more was done.

At the inquest his family complained that an emergency button has not been pressed and that the man did not check the older man's pulse. But, the nurse came very quickly to check what happened so these things would not make a difference. The family also criticised the organization because the man has not seen a speech specialist who would prescribe a proper diet considering his problems with swallowing.

But, a referral has been made and it is a normal thing that patients have to wait for a few weeks before the visit. Besides, he was getting a pure food as the staff has been aware of his problems with swallowing.

So, the coroner decided that the older person died from choking and he did not see anything wrong with the behaviour of the staff. Neverthless, a conclusion can be made that everyone should know what to do when someone chokes. Besides, older people require extra care and those who work with them should be extra careful because when someone dies they would want to know that they did all they could to prevent it.



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