Wandering and Elopement Attorneys – How Wandering and Elopement Can Lead to Injury and Even Death

What is Wandering and Elopement?

In nursing home negligence cases, these terms refer to a situation in which a resident, usually suffering from dementia or a similar condition, wanders from a facility.   Wandering and elopement can be especially dangerous during cold and hot weather, where residents can suffer frostbite or heatstroke quickly.

Regardless of the weather conditions, wandering and elopement poses a high threat to seniors.  Often, because of a diminished mental state, seniors are easily confused and may not know where they are.  They may get lost easily, or believe that they are living in a different time and location.  They may believe that they need to get “home,” which can be especially tragic if the home they are looking for is one where they may have lived many years ago which may be in another state.

Nursing Homes Must Take Care to Protect Our Seniors

It can take only a couple minutes of unattended supervision of an entrance for a resident to wander out the doors of nursing home.  Once outside, it may not become apparent that the resident is missing for several hours or more.

If the nursing home is on a busy street, traffic can pose a high risk of injury.  Because seniors with dementia may already be in poor health, wandering without water in hot or cold weather can also lead to severe injury or even death relatively quickly. Seniors may be especially hard to track down, as often there is no logical direction in which they may be headed.

When Our Seniors Suffer Injury or Death Due to Negligent Nursing Home Supervision, We Seek to Hold the Facilities Responsible

Find out about our firm and the options available in your case – call us for a free, no-obligation consultation.

We have been representing those injured by the wrongful or negligent acts or omissions of others and the families of those who have lost a loved one, throughout the state of New York, for more than 65 years.  Unless otherwise agreed, we represent those injured and the families who have lost a loved one due to nursing home negligence and wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis.  This means we are only paid if we are successful in recovering compensation and damages for our clients.


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