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In the course of researching a story about a choking rescue device called the LifeVac, I stumbled upon what appears to be a troubling situation at a nursing home in a small town in the south of Wales.
According to media reports, press releases, and a Facebook post last week, in less than eight months, a resident of the home choked to death and there have been three near-fatal choking incidents involving two elderly residents, the most recent of which is said to have occurred last week.
It's unclear why this spate of fatal and near-fatal episodes apparently occurred at the facility, so today I asked government agencies to investigate.
Details are murky, but according to various information sources including a Long Island, NY, newspaper, an unidentified resident choked to death this past January at the Allt-Y-Mynydd Care Home in Llanybydder, which has beds for 44 or fewer residents.
According to a UK newspaper, in late May the facility purchased a LifeVac and just days later, a registered nurse who works for the nursing home used the device to save the life of an elderly woman.
According to a LifeVac press release, days later the same elderly resident again nearly choked to death, requiring a hospitalization.
And last week, according to Help Save Lives, a London medical and training supplies company that sold the LifeVac to Allt-Y-Mynydd, yet another near-fatal choking occurred:
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In order to learn more about why so many life-threatening incidents have happened within such a short time, in recent months I've made best efforts to obtain more information from Judy Fawke, manager of the facility...
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...and from Nigel Denny, Managing Director of Ashberry Healthcare of Oxfordshire, England, Allt-Y-Mynydd's parent corporation.
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In response to multiple inquiries requesting non-confidential information about the choking incidents, neither has responded to my questions, so today I asked three government agencies to investigate.
I'll report the results in a future item.
