Ohio hospice aide killed in traffic accident
Ohio hospice aide killed in traffic accident
Violence isn’t the only potentially lethal hazard facing hospice workers who visit the home, as one hospice recently discovered. Kim Egan, 36, a home health aide with Hospice of Central Ohio in Newark, was killed Dec. 9, 1997, in an automobile accident en route to a patient’s home. She became the hospice industry’s fifth-ever work-related traffic fatality, according to data from the National Hospice Organization Insurance Agency (NHOIA) in St. Helena, CA. Given how many miles hospice caregivers travel every year, it’s a wonder there haven’t been more, observes the Newark hospice’s CEO, Michele McMahon.
McMahon describes Egan as "a really good aide," skilled at the technical aspects of the job but also able to touch the lives of her patients and families. "She was really good at what she did and able to be very caring and compassionate in the home. Kim always told people that hospice was where she was meant to workthat was her calling," says McMahon. Egan had always generated positive comments from families, "but at the time of her death the calls just poured in." Egan is survived by parents Jim and Faye, and daughter Brittany.
The hospice, which is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, has devoted considerable time and effort to safe driving policies and inservices on safe driving practices. However, because of the accident, officials from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and from Workers’ Compensation are expected to make on-site investigations, McMahon says.
Meanwhile, hospice staff are dealing with their emotional reactions. The agency brought in outside grief experts from a nearby hospice for a support group session, so that its own bereavement staff could participate, instead of facilitating the session. Other hospices in the state and many people in the community have been generous with offers of support, McMahon says.
There are several things hospice managers can do to try to minimize the risk of work-related traffic accidents, says NHOIA’s director of education and research, Marcia Zandbergen. These include emphasizing, or even requiring, staff to wear seat belts on the job, providing safe-driving education programs, and checking driving records of new hires. NHOIA has an instructional videotape on safe driving, available at a modest cost, she adds. For information, call (800) 646-6460.
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