Violetta Aylward, UK Nurse, Turns Off Man's Life Support By Mistake (VIDEO)

A paralyzed man in the U.K. was left brain-damaged after a nurse working in his home accidentally switched off his ventilator, the BBC is reporting.

After expressing concerns about the care he was receiving, 37-year-old Jamie Merrett reportedly had a bedside camera installed at his home in Wlltshire, England. The resulting CCTV footage shows nurse Violetta Aylward switching off her patient's ventilator and Merritt clicking his tongue to attract attention.

The machine was re-started by a crew of paramedics 21 minutes later, but Merrett -- who was already paralyzed from the neck down following an automobile accident in 2002 -- had already suffered the damage.

Karen Reynolds, Merrett's sister, has slammed Ambition 24hours, Aylward's employer and the agency that provides services to the National Health Service (NHS), and she is considering taking legal action against the firm.

View footage of the incident via the BBC here:

Comments

[Prince TX]

08:34 PM on 10/28/2010

Its terrible this had to happen. He had an intelligent mind and now he has even lost that.

I'm expecting this to start happening more in the US. No dont blame Obama. Blame the organizations that are pushing for nurses and mid levels to be able to operate and take more responsibility WITHOUT any supervision from a doctor.

Right now there is a huge push by nurses to give them the right to prescribe dangerous medications and treat patients by themselves and without a doctor.

I dont know about you, but I want to be treated by a doctor. They go through 7-10 years of training and over 10,000 hours under direct supervision from experienced doctors. I love nurses but its important that we trust our lives with people who have the right education and experience and have put it the time and sacrifice.

I know this case in the article is an isolated (hopefully) issue but it brings up several important discussions about the future.

[llisa]

01:15 AM on 10/27/2010

Could she not just turn it back on?

This is why, if I am ever unable to care for my tracheostomy myself, I want to die immediately. I have seen how trach patients in nursing homes are neglected. I have been neglected myself in hospitals. The hospital made so many mistakes the last time I was hospitalized (including giving me morphine which arrested my respiration, even though it was listed as not to be given on my bracelet, on my paperwork, and in big letters above the bed), that I am trying to avoid going in again for a needed surgery.

Even with the morphine incident, an anesthesiologist who repositioned my trach tube incorrectly (I had requested a respiratory tech to handle that, but the request was denied), a nurse who would not assist me to the bathroom during her whole shift with resulting bladder and then kidney infections----even with all this, my lawyer said I would be unlikely to get a result in my favor because I lived, and despite the urinary infections and a staph infection of the trachea, I did recover after months of misery with only scar tissue in the trachea.

This scares me to death! What is the incentive for hospitals to train their people well if they know that they will not lose money when they screw up if the patient manages to live?

I hope this woman and her employer are taken to the cleaners.

[quiviran]

03:47 PM on 10/26/2010

One more example of why it's never a good idea to outsource government services. A for profit company can not, ever, obtain patient care, management and profits for less money than direct employment of the caregiver. The thing that suffers is the quality of patient care and ultimately, the patient.

[abuja19]

08:56 AM on 10/26/2010

Ambition24 should be sued, there is no excuse for not putting a competent nurse in Mr. Merrett's home to operate the bedside equipment.

[NewHavenCountyCT]

08:50 AM on 10/26/2010

Karen Reynolds, Merrett's sister, has slammed Ambition 24hours, Aylward's employer and the agency that provides services to the National Health Service (NHS), and she is considering taking legal action against the firm.

And there we have it, a private health care company being hired by the public health service. Needless to say the private healthcare company had poorly trained staff as they watch their bottom line.

[Whinger]

03:41 AM on 10/26/2010

This is what happens when people are not familiar with or properly trained to use equipment..

Those who employed this lady must also bear responsibility for this tragedy.

[m1jones]

02:33 AM on 10/26/2010

Unless you have family members who can remain with you at all hours, day and night, on a shift basis, your chances of emerging from an American hospital better off than you went in are among the worst in the world. Yet we have the highest medical costs per person( 17% of GNP for U.S.; 10% per capita for France - among the best in the world). In addition to careless nurses and orderlies, doctors are terrible about handwashing in the U.S. There are many strains of necrotizing bacteria in hospitals spread by personnel not washing their hands from patient to patient. Those result in bacterial infections which gradually consume your flesh, and for which they are few if any antibiotics.

[Sara Lira]

05:38 AM on 10/26/2010

This is horrible! Nurses make mistakes all the time. When my grandfather was in a hospital for an infection one of the nurses noticed that he wasn't digesting his food when she checked the peg tube but FAILED to notify the doctor. The next nurse on shift kept feeding all night long until the following morning my grandfather vomited and aspirated, they waited 20 minutes before a respiratory technician was called to check the oxygen level on his blood. He was immediately intubated and spent 2 months on a ventilator fighting off the infection. He was left with brain damage but was still able to speak and engage in conversations. They caused him unimaginable pain and suffering.. I WISH I HAD PUNCHED THE STUPID NURSE ON HER FACE. My grandfather was never left alone at the hospital NEVER! but that night my 19yr old brother was staying with him and he saw everything happen and the stupidity of the nurses.

[Carl]

05:39 PM on 10/26/2010

I'm gonna get shot for saying this, but I have seen that in Canada as well. If you have a loved one in hospital, stay on top of stuff. They mix up names, meds and all sorts of things. Although we get healthcare coverage in this country, it doesn't remove the risks. You hear this stuff in private and public scenarios.

[m1jones]

02:29 AM on 10/26/2010

This is too horrible to imagine. Was there no back up system or alarm? This woman should be jailed for her negligence.

[Nicole Dixson]

01:44 AM on 10/26/2010

Wow, that is horrible. Hasn't the guy suffered enough?

[SrAN]

01:32 AM on 10/26/2010

My husband worked in the medical career field and I have to say if you knew how little some of these nurses, the primary care givers in most cases, knew you would be seriously scared. I was hospitalized for a month with severe burns after being electrocuted. One nurse came to give me an IV, stated she couldn't find a vein that would work properly and then started pulling my bandages down that were on one of my hands (the bandages covering my 3rd degree burns). My husband asked her what she was doing and she stated she as going to put the IV on my wrist, the wrist that had been seriously burned. My husband quickly stopped her, went and got the head nurse and asked her politely if he could administer the IV (since he was trained and qualified). She knew my husband well from his frequent visits and said yes after my husband explained what the other nurse was about to do. This pales in comparison to what happened here but something that simple led me to not trust that nurse with the big things, like bandage changes, administering meds or helping me clean the burns.

[mairs]

02:12 AM on 10/26/2010

So many nurses are really terrific, but after spending a week in a local hospital, I came to dread the overnight nurses.

[SrAN]

02:18 AM on 10/26/2010

This was a night nurse. And dont get me wrong I had some really great nurses too. They were really kind and caring and loved me since I shared my chocolate with them lol. But I have noticed that you either get a good one or a bad one. Some just seem to be doing the job to get paid, nothing more. You can tell. I actually had one nurse make fun of because I cried when they put me in the showers. I cried because they took Dial soap and rough guaze to my face and hands (1st-3rd degree burns) to clean off the dead skin and old ointment, it was extremely painful. She said that it wasnt that bad...needless to say she was no longer allowed to give me a shower.

As for a good nurse, there was one who administered tough love. She helped me but insisted I help myself as well. She ensured that if I REALLY needed the help that she was there but if I could do it myself and was just being lazy well she pushed me. I was so thankful for that, it helped me to heal so much faster.

[m2b]

12:38 AM on 10/26/2010

The equivalent of 3 jumbo jets full of passengers fall out of the sky every 2 days from medical mistakes in the US.

http://www.whale.to/a/null9.html

[m2b]

12:31 AM on 10/26/2010

783,936 people in the United States die every year from conventional medicine mistakes. (According to the 2003 medical report, Death by Medicine, by Drs. Gary Null, Carolyn Dean, Martin Feldman, Debora Rasio and Dorothy Smith) Where is the story regarding this disaster?

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

12:22 AM on 10/26/2010

What fussy little budget was in her head at the moment she CLICKED OFF THE SWITCH?
Hey-zoos kristy. What a queen ding bat. Buh-bye.

[PlutocratsSuck]

11:29 PM on 10/25/2010

The lawsuit cannot be big enough.

[SteveD987]

11:21 PM on 10/25/2010

"...she is considering taking legal action against the firm" This would seem like a no-brainer to me ( no pun intended, well, sorta)..

[Michael Wright]

11:41 PM on 10/25/2010

that just makes me feel awful to laugh at.