Authorities are launching a criminal investigation into the death of an 87-year-old woman who was denied CPR at a California independent living home by a woman who identified herself to a 911 dispatcher as a nurse – but the facility now says she isn’t one.

During the call last Tuesday, an unidentified woman called from her cellphone, and asked for paramedics to be sent to help Lorraine Bayless, who collapsed in the dining room of the independent living building in Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield.

Later, a woman who identified herself as the nurse got on the phone and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.

But a spokesman for Brookdale Senior Living, which owns the Glenwood Gardens facility where the incident happened, told the Los Angeles Times that the woman was “serving in the capacity of a resident services director, not as a nurse.”

Christopher Finn, the spokesman, would not comment on whether or not she was licensed as a nurse.

Halvorson urged the woman to start CPR, warning the consequences could be dire if no one tried to revive the woman, who had been laid out on the floor on her instructions.

She said one of the home’s policies prevented her from doing CPR, according to an audio recording of the call.

“I understand if your boss is telling you, you can’t do it,” the dispatcher said. “But … as a human being … you know, is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”

“Not at this time,” she answered.

Halvorson assured the staff member that Glenwood couldn’t be sued if anything went wrong in attempts to resuscitate the resident, saying the local emergency medical system “takes the liability for this call.”

Later in the call, Halvorson asked, “Is there a gardener? Any staff, anyone who doesn’t work for you? Anywhere? Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady? Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her.”

“I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don’t get this started, do you understand?”

The woman had no pulse and wasn’t breathing when fire crews reached her, said Battalion Chief Anthony Galagaza of the Bakersfield Fire Department.

The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the staff member in a written statement, saying she followed the facility’s policy.

“In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives,” Toomer said. “That is the protocol we followed.”

Toomer offered condolences to the woman’s family and said a thorough internal review would be conducted. He told KGET-TV that residents of the facility are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in. He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent …read more
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