CompuWeather’s Recent Contribution to Nursing Home Cases

by Kayla Travis, Sales & Marketing Associate

The weather plays a significant role in our everyday lives. It may influence our outfit for the day, what route we choose to take to work, or our weekend plans. The same is true regarding legal cases. In fact, the weather plays a role in more cases than you might think – aviation cases, homicide cases, and even nursing home abuse cases. Attorneys specializing in these fields may initially believe that a weather expert will never be of use to them due to the nature of their work. However,?CompuWeather?experts often work on more than just a typical slip & fall or property damage case.

Record High Heat Leads to a Death in a Senior Living Home

Recently,?CompuWeather?was hired by an attorney to provide a weather report containing temperatures for a specific area during a heat wave in 2021. During this time, parts of the country were seeing record high temperatures that lead to several deaths, including the death of a nursing home resident. With the absence of air conditioners in rooms and in common areas, the nursing home facility reached triple digit temperatures. Residents were unable to escape the heat, causing one resident to die as a result of heat stroke.?

A report from?CompuWeather?was an essential contribution to the plaintiff’s case strategy to prove the nursing home facility did not take the?necessary precautions to avoid death by extreme heat.?CompuWeather?reports are site-specific and indicate temperatures as well as the official advisories that were issued to the public during the date of loss and prior. Reports can also cover other weather factors?in question such as humidity, heat index, forecasts, etc.

Defense Claims Hurricane Prohibited Travel to Receive Care for Senior?

In another case,?CompuWeather?was hired by a plaintiff attorney representing a senior that died after transferring to a different nursing home facility. The plaintiff was informed that they needed to evacuate from their facility to a different location due to a hurricane. When the plaintiff arrived at their new location, they were unable to be transported to receive dialysis,?which resulted in their death. The defense claimed that they were unable to provide the plaintiff medical treatment due to the hurricane. However,?CompuWeather’s?experts found that hurricane conditions did not impact the area surrounding the facility. The?plaintiff attorney used this to show that travel for dialysis treatment was possible.?CompuWeather’s?analysis was favorable to the plaintiff attorney who argued that medical treatment was feasible.

Ultimately, the weather can play a role in various types of legal cases – including ones that end in tragedy.?CompuWeather?experts can help?document past weather conditions to assist with legal matters.?CompuWeather?offers consultation services to cover all the weather-related factors for your case.