Hurricane deaths at Florida nursing home: accident or manslaughter?

A Florida nursing home administrator charged with causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after Hurricane Irma in 2017 went on trial Monday, with a prosecutor calling him a “captain who abandoned ship” while his attorney said he’s a “scapegoat” for failures of the electric company to restore power.

Prosecutor Chris Killoran told the six-member jury that Jorge Carballo is guilty of manslaughter because he failed to give adequate direction to his staff at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after power to the facility’s air conditioning system was lost. He said Carballo went home even as it became “ridiculously hot” inside the 150-bed, two-storey facility and failed to order his patients’ evacuation to Memorial Regional Hospital across the street, which had working air conditioning.

Prosecutors must prove Carballo acted recklessly and showed gross and careless disregard for his patients’ safety. Carballo, 65, could face 15 years in prison if convicted, although a sentence of that length would be unlikely as he has no previous record. He was originally charged with 12 deaths, but three cases have been dropped. Charges were also dropped against three of his employees, who will testify against him.

“This is a case of a captain who abandoned his slowly sinking ship, and left not only his crew but the passengers to fend for themselves,” Killoran said. As temperatures rose inside the centre, Carballo “basically did nothing,” he said.

“He had his staff buy some fans to push some hot air around and had some portable AC units installed,” he said, but that wasn’t done properly, making the temperatures on the second floor where the deaths occurred even worse.

But defence attorney James Cobb said Carballo did everything within his power to protect his patients.

He had his staff notify Florida Power & Light that the air conditioning’s power was down right after it happened and several more times over the next two days, Cobb said, but the company didn’t send a crew until an executive saw news reports about patients dying.

He said the problem took 10 minutes to fix.

He said Carballo was following published research that shows moving frail, elderly patients comes with a high risk of death.

“This case can be boiled down to one word — scapegoat,” Cobb said.

Cobb, scoffing at Killoran’s characterization of Carballo abandoning ship, showed the jury two photos of Carballo working with his staff during the emergency. He said Carballo is on trial to avoid placing the blame where it belongs — on the power company.

The victims, ranging in age from 57 to 99, had body temperatures of up to 108 F (42 C), paramedics have reported.

The deaths began three days after Irma knocked out a transformer that powered the cooling system. Otherwise, the facility never lost power.

A state report said that before the storm hit on Sept. 10, 2017, Carballo and his staff made appropriate preparations. They purchased extra food and water and fuel for the generator.

Administrators also participated in statewide conference calls with regulators, including one where then-Gov. Rick Scott said nursing homes should call his cellphone for help.

After the air conditioner failed, Carballo and his facility manager contacted the power company. When that didn’t work, they called Scott’s cellphone and county and city officials. No help came.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.