The Spinal Cord Injury Law Firm’s own Kelley Simoneaux (T12 Paraplegic) is teaming up with Toby Cole (C5 Quadriplegic) of Cole Law Firm to take on a specific challenge faced by so many of us within the spinal cord injury (SCI) community: the entirely preventable and yet unjustifiably common occurrence of pressure sore injuries. Shockingly, many occur in hospital settings under the care of physicians. These providers must be held accountable for compromised skin integrity and subsequent life threatening wounds that develop in patients while under their care.
The mission is a powerful one.
But these attorneys know the firsthand challenges of living with SCI. They have witnessed the devastating impact of pressure sores within their community, and they have turned their personal experiences into this mission of patient advocacy and pressure wound accountability
Founders of SCI Pressure Sores, Simoneaux and Cole, run an informative website seeking to educate about pressure injuries and patient rights. Find it here.
Holding hospitals accountable might not be as straightforward as pinning charges on a negligent driver, for example.
But attorneys at SCI Pressure Sores are no strangers to challenge and offer to examine your pressure wound injury case regardless of where you live in the U.S.
Kelley: “Pressure sores are absolutely avoidable when the right care is in place. There needs to be accountability. I am part of the spinal cord injury community, and I am here to fight for you.”
Toby: “We have to change the culture; we have to make hospitals hate pressure injuries as much as we hate pressure injuries.”
Do hospitals not hate pressure injuries? Perhaps they will take more effective measures to prevent them when they start getting hit in the pocketbook.
Systematic review of prevalence and incidence studies have shown pressure ulcer prevalence ranged from 5.2% (at admission) to 12.3% (at discharge). An increase in wound severity should never happen in a hospital!
Avoiding pressure sore formation in immobile patients should be easy: use appropriate mattresses that distribute pressure, frequently reposition, rotate, and turn hospital patients incapable of adjusting and shifting weight independently.
Pressure ulcers form fast and heal slow. Read more about pressure sores and prevention in our previous blog post.
Have you or a loved one suffered a pressure injury in a hospital or health care institution? Tell us at SCI Pressure Sores your story and let us fight for you today.
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