ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell police responded to an emergency medical technician report of elder abuse and care neglect after an 80-year-old nursing home resident died at North Fulton Hospital Jan. 9.
According to police, two emergency medical technicians had been dispatched to a man at Roswell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center who was unresponsive but breathing with a pulse.
When they began performing life-saving measures, the medical technicians noticed he showed alarming medical signs like hypoxia, low levels of oxygen in body tissue.
The pair of technicians told police the man’s condition pointed to a lack of medical attention for an extended period. By the time they had gotten there, the technicians said the man appeared to already be brain dead.
The man’s wife said her husband was fine before. She had been with him at the nursing home until 12 p.m. the day before, and the medical call came in around 5 p.m. that same day.
His wife told an emergency medical technician her husband had received no attention from his caregiver in that five-hour period, raising concerns of possible elder abuse.
The emergency medical technicians took the man to the hospital and continued performing life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead after an hour. The doctors said the man died of natural causes.
One technician told Roswell police he felt the neglect played a significant role in the man’s death, and he plans to file a report with the state and with Adult Protective Services.
Contacted by phone, a representative from Roswell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center had no comment on the incident at this time.