In Tennessee, the law protects nursing home residents’ rights to partake in activities both on and off the premises of the facilities where they live—but nursing homes are responsible for ensuring the safety of activities that take place on the their property.
A failure to take such precautions resulted in injuries to seven patients of a Hermitage, Tennessee, nursing home. Reports from WKRN 2 News say the injuries occurred when a train ride set up on the nursing home’s property overturned while giving rides to patients.
Officials say the train was making it’s way down a small hill on the property when the 21-year-old operator lost control. The small train derailed and the last car overturned, causing several riders to be injured.
The train’s operator told investigators he applied the brakes, but they were not working or were not strong enough to slow the train down. An investigation into the cause of the accident remains open. Officials did say they do not believe the train’s operator was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Protecting the rights of elderly patients is important to each of the Nashville nursing home abuse lawyers at Ponce Law. That’s why we are hopeful for a speedy recovery for each victim.