Bonnie's Story
Bonnie Johnson* moved to her community residence in 1986 when she was 63 years old. Her case of mild mental retardation required minimal assistance with cooking, cleaning and finances. Other than these housekeeping tasks she was fully capable of handling other daily skills on her own, such as showering and organizing her daily routine.
One Saturday morning as Bonnie was showering, the unexpected happened. She was all through with her shower, went to turn of the water and accidentally turned the knob the opposite direction. This direction was full-powered hot water. Due to her age, disability and slow reaction-time Ms. Johnson backed into the corner of the shower screaming for help. The Assistant Manager on staff was immediately informed by another resident who had heard Bonnie’s painful call for help.
The Manager approached the scene to find the bathroom full of steam and Ms. Johnson still standing in the corner of the shower in what she described as “very hot” water. He helped her out of the shower only to find burns on her feet, thighs and breasts. Bonnie was rushed to the local hospital, treated immediately for the burns covering 25 percent of her body and then transferred to a specialized burn unit at a different location.
The full-thickness burns resulted in months of treatment and while one problem leads to another, she has now moved from critical to guarded condition. A month and a half after the occurrence, a physician revealed that Bonnie had greater chances of dying than living. She has and continues to undergo surgeries for her legs, breasts and arms for skin grafts and one surgical debridement to her right leg.
This injury has brought on other problems to her weak body, such as the need to be placed on a respirator, a nasogastric feeding tube, undergo numerous blood transfusions and an edoscopy to diagnose her “burn-stress-induced” gastric ulcers. The last update on Bonnie noted that she had come down with pneumonia and septicemia and her chances of survival were slim.
* ”Bonnie Johnson” is a pseudonym
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________(6) In the matter of bonnie johnson: hot water system with malfunctioning temperature control causes life-threatening burns. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2005, from http://www.cqc.state.ny.us/could_this_happen/case13.htm
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