911 calls highlight chaos at overheated Florida nursing home

Mackenzie Bean (Twitter) -

Newly released 911 calls demonstrate the chaos and confusion that occurred when a Florida nursing home overheated amid power outages caused by Hurricane Irma, according to CNN.

Employees at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills called 911 eight times to report residents experiencing cardiac arrest, respiratory failure and hyperthermia between Sept. 11 and Sept. 13.

The first call occurred Sept. 11, when a staff member reported an 81-year-old patient with a respiratory issue. The second call came the next day, when a staff member called 911 about an unresponsive 93-year-old patient with a fever who was not alert and had trouble breathing.

By early morning Sept. 13, the calls grew more frequent and panicked. The 911 call center received five calls from the nursing home in three and a half-hour time span.

"There's a patient who's in cardiac arrest," an employee said in one 911 call, according to CNN. "We don't have any air condition(ing), so I saw her slouch over. I realized that she's not breathing, so I checked her. She's just barely breathing ... and her fingers started to change color — slightly blue."

Fourteen patients have died since the nursing home lost power in September. Officials have not released the exact causes of the death, which are part of an ongoing criminal investigation led by the Hollywood Police Department.

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