(1) The staff of the assisted living community must call the local police department to report the elopement of any resident from the assisted living community within 30 minutes of the staff receiving actual knowledge that such person is missing from the assisted living community in accordance with the Mattie’s Call Act and the requirements set forth in O.C.G.A. § 35-3-170et seq. The assisted living community shall also reports the initiation and discontinuation of Mattie’s call to the Department within thirty (30) minutes of communications with local law enforcement authorities having occurred.
(2) Whenever a serious incident involving a resident occurs, the assisted living community must reports in a format acceptable to the Department either within 24 hours after the incident has occurred, or the assisted living community has reasonable cause to believe that a reportable incident involving a resident has occurred. The serious incidents that must be reported to the Department include the following:
(a) any accidental or unanticipated death not directly related to the natural course of the resident’s underlying medical condition;
(b) any serious injury to a resident that requires medical attention;
(c) any rape, assault, any battery on a resident, or any abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a Resident in accordance with the Long Term Care Resident Abuse Reporting Act O.C.G.A. § 31-8-80et seq.;
(d) an external disaster or other emergency situation that affects the continued safe operation of the residence; and
(e) when an owner, director, or employee acquires a criminal record as defined in these rules.
(3) The incident report required by these rules must be filed with the Department, in confidence and must include at least:
(a) the name of the assisted living community and the name of the administrator or site manager;
(b) the date of the incident and the date the assisted living community became aware of the incident;
(c) the type of incident suspected, with a brief description of the incident; and
(d) any immediate corrective or preventative action was taken by the assisted living community to ensure against the replication of the incident.
(4) Where the Department determines that a rule violation related to the incident has occurred, the Department will initiate a separate complaint investigation of the incident. The complaint investigation report and the report of any rule violation compiled by the Department arising either from the initial reports received from the assisted living community or an independent source is subject to disclosure in accordance with applicable laws.
To Take Away:
- The staff of the assisted living community must call the local police department to report the elopement of any resident from the assisted living community within 30 minutes of the staff receiving actual knowledge that such person is missing from the assisted living community in accordance with Mattie’s Call Act and the requirements set forth in O.C.G.A. § 35-3-170et seq. The assisted living community shall also report the initiation and discontinuation of Mattie’s call to the Department within thirty (30) minutes of communications with local law enforcement authorities having occurred.
You do not, I repeat, DO NOT want to be caught in a situation where a resident elopes from your facility and there is not communication make to the proper authority. It is recommended to immediately call 911 when you determine a resident is missing from the community.