For the most part, he says, they were stocked and restocked routinely, and used infrequently. A decade ago, the typical long-term care resident rarely presented with an emergency. Babb recalls dealing with emergencies by dialing 911 and providing supportive care until the ambulance arrived. We became complacent, he says. As the general profile of long-term care residents has changed over the last decade, so have the type and frequency of emergencies.
Residents are sicker and more fragile than ever before.
Consequently, they expect that the facility s staff will be ready and able to handle medical emergencies if they occur. Intravenous antibiotics, infusions, and other medical support systems increase the challenges in this setting. While he believes that all these factors are important, he places slightly more emphasis on staff training. He stresses the need to determine how the environment in each health care facility has changed and advises designing a plan that addresses each factor. Facilities that have been inspected by the Health Care Financing Administration, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or local regulatory agencies report that similar concerns are discussed during the review.