I just read an interesting article in the December 11 edition of the Roanoke Times titled, “Patient Tracking Device Closer to Market.” The article caught my eye because my law firm receives 3 or 4 telephone calls every month from someone whose mother/father/brother/sister, who resides in a nursing home, fell in a portion of the facility in which they never should have been in the first place or worse, gotten outside of the facility and wandered away.
These stories often end tragically!
It appears a Roanoke company, Wireless Medcare, has developed a device which attaches to a patient’s bed and detects patient movement to prevent bedsores and falls if the patient tries to get out of bed without assistance. The product, Vivatrak, is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This is great news and sounds like a great product which can reduce needless and preventable injuries and suffering.
My Question: Will the nursing homes hire enough nurses to timely respond to the alarms when activated? I am not optimistic.