Man suing seniors' home after father's scalding death

Come on, I know there is supposed to be a measure of safety in a seniors home, but they can't have someone by their side 24/7. The guy had an accident, he fell in the tub and turned on the hot water by accident. Now maybe 20 minutes is a little exessive for him to be left alone, but accidents happen. Don't get me wrong, I feel for the family, it's a bad way to lose a family member, i just don't think it's sue worthy.

I agree with you. And 20 minutes alone, I think they are alone all day anyway, it's not a nursing home. The man lived alone in a seniors home, like my great grandma did till she died at 96. They had someone that brought their meals so they didnt have to cook for themselves, a community area to play games or just talk and drink something, but no 24/7 care.

That's what I was thinking Brenda, he wasn't in a nursing home. One of the reasons a lot of seniors don't mind being in a senior's home is because they still have a measure of freedom, the ability to do some things alone. Most people wouldn't want someone in the room with them when they clean up and shave.

The family has a very good case. Nursing homes generally keep hot water temp well below where it can scald. It's not about people dying usually, but getting many burns on their hands from too hot water. Heck, in BC I believe they mandate 40 degrees for hot water in nursing homes.

But he was not living in a nursing home. He was living in a seniors home.

Yes it was, after the fact. The home seems to acknowledge that they should have kept the water at a safe level. Even hotels won't have water temp that can cause 3rd degree burns - they'd be being sued right and left.

Wow, what a fucked up way to die

Wow, not sure why the home would have the water heater turned up that high. Water that's 120 degrees F (48 degrees C) is more than adequate to kill germs when used with soap on the human body. While I agree that this was an unfortunate accident and the staff cannot be standing beside a resident 24/7 the home does have a share in the blame for having the hot water turned up so high.

Yet, it never had been a problem before, and I doubt it was that hot just that day.

It sure is an unfortunate accident, and I am glad they turned it down.

Hmmm. Depending on their licensing, the facility may well have been required to have 60C water available for sanitary reasons - like dishwashing.

I know some cities in California require 195F water to be used for automated dishwashing in hospitals, restaraunts, and etc.

But it would have made sense to have a separate water heater set at 40C for the bathrooms. In any case, it is horrible that the man survived a war and 94 years only to die this way.

Automated dishwashers/sanitizers that don't rely on chemicals have heating coils to get to food-safe temperatures.