Terry Hofslund was riding his Suzuki when he was struck by a car turning across his lane of traffic. Hofslund was thrown from the motorcycle and struck a third vehicle, suffering multiple fractures. He succumbed to his injuries Sunday.

Hofslund was wearing a helmet. According to police, the driver of the car was issued a ticket for failure to yield.

Pitman, Kyle, Sicula & Dentice is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling motorcycle accident cases through out the state. Our Wisconsin injury attorneys have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

By Tom Tolan of the Journal Sentinel

Sept. 1, 2010

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No charges were filed in a death last February in a Clement Manor independent living apartment because it couldn’t be proved who had acknowledged an alarm from the apartment, an assistant district attorney says.

Assistant District Attorney Denis Stingl provided information Wednesday that shed new light on the Feb. 15 death of Sylvia Ploszay.

A lawsuit was filed Monday in the death of Ploszay, 87, who experienced a cut on a varicose vein near her ankle, pulled an emergency cord requesting help, and then bled to death over the four hours it took staff members to respond to the call.

According to the lawsuit and an extensive Greenfield police report on the death, Ploszay pulled an alarm cord in her room at 12:25 a.m. on the 15th, and a nurse didn’t respond to the alarm until 4:20 a.m. or after. The alarm was acknowledged at a nursing station within a minute, the documents say, but not acted upon until later.

None of the Clement Manor staff members who were interviewed by police remembered acknowledging the alarm, according to the district attorney’s office, although one nurse, Suzette Gorski, told police she acknowledged an alarm from the complex’s loading dock between 1 and 2 a.m.

Records from the alarm system showed no such alarm, and Stingl speculates it might have been the call from Ploszay that Gorski acknowledged then. But investigators couldn’t determine what was displayed on the alarm screen at that time, Stingl said.

In addition, Stingl clarified the responsibilities of a nursing assistant who was watching television when she received a call from a hallway neighbor of Ploszay’s reporting her alarm. Her job was to field emergency calls from the assisted living facility at Clement Manor, not the independent living building, according to Stingl, and it was her practice to watch TV while waiting for those calls. Stingl and the police report said she’d told the caller to contact the complex’s health office, given him a number to call and returned to watching TV. Neither she nor the caller apparently followed up.

The lawsuit complaint incorrectly identified the woman as a nurse; she’s a certified nursing assistant.

Richard Rau, chief executive officer of the Clement Manor complex, wouldn’t say Wednesday whether any staff member had been fired as a result of what happened, but did say, “Appropriate counseling or disciplinary action was taken.” Greenfield police Detective David Leon, whose investigation at the complex lasted until May, said that “to the best of my knowledge,” no one had been fired.

Finally, as was reported Wednesday, alarms from independent living units like Ploszay’s now go to a private alarm company, which informs Greenfield emergency dispatchers. In addition, though, the internal alarms at Clement Manor have been reorganized so that an alarm from a room goes off every five minutes until it’s reset in the resident’s room, according to Stingl.

Also, Stingl said, work rules have been changed so that any staff member who acknowledges an alarm or receives a call about an alarm has to immediately contact the shift supervisor.

By Tom Tolan of the Journal Sentinel

Aug. 31, 2010

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Workers at the Clement Manor complex in Greenfield “inexcusably and unconscionably” ignored for four hours an emergency alarm set off in an apartment at the complex as the resident bled to death, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

One nurse’s aide received a call about the alarm while she was watching TV and instead of following up, went back to watching TV, according to the complaint filed Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court and a Greenfield police report.

The lawsuit names Clement Manor Inc., two Franciscan sisters’ communities and Cincinnati-based insurance companies in the death of 87-year-old Sylvia Ploszay on Feb. 15.

Ploszay was a resident of a 101-unit independent living building at 9405 W. Howard Ave. that is part of Clement Manor, which also has assisted-living units and a nursing home.

The independent apartments have cords to pull to summon help in emergencies, and Ploszay pulled hers at 12:25 a.m. on Feb. 15. A nursing supervisor and a nursing assistant finally arrived at the apartment at 4:34 a.m., according to the lawsuit, and found her dead in her bathroom.

The Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office found that she’d experienced a cut in a varicose vein and had died of loss of blood. The Greenfield police report indicates she’d had more than one case in which she’d experienced bleeding in the past.

The lawsuit and police report say that a sound alarm and visual alarm went off at a nursing station in the complex and were acknowledged within a minute by someone at the station. The acknowledgment turned off the sound alarm at the station, but not a light alarm.

The suit also said a resident later heard a sound alarm in a hallway of the independent living unit and made a phone call that was answered by a nurse’s aide who said she was watching television. The resident, Richard Stobbe, said the woman told him she’d take care of it, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit calls the woman a nurse, but she’s a nurse’s aide, according to the police report.

The nurse’s aide — whose job was to monitor calls in the complex’s assisted living center — told police she had directed the caller to contact the complex’s health center and speak to a supervisor. In any case, no one followed up on the call and the aide went back to watching TV, the lawsuit says.

The suit also said the facility was short-staffed that night.

Greenfield police conducted an extensive investigation of the death and presented it to the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office, which decided not to issue charges.

Stephanie Smiley, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Health Services, said the department’s Division of Quality Assurance, which regulates nursing homes and assisted living facilities, did not get involved in this case because it doesn’t oversee independent living apartments.

But she said the division has investigated only three complaints against the nursing home and assisted living facility since 2005, and no citations were issued as a result.

“It appears to be a facility where they follow state codes and regulations,” she said.

Dennis Ferger, administrator of Clement Manor, said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, but he said the complex in March changed the procedure for independent living residents to report emergencies.

Now, according to Ferger and the Greenfield police report, when residents pull the alarm cord, it goes straight to a private alarm company, which notifies the Greenfield emergency dispatchers, who dispatch firefighters to the complex.

Ferger referred questions about the lawsuit to the local representative of the Cincinnati Insurance Co., who did not return a phone call.

Jeff Pitman, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Ploszay’s estate, said he handled “a ton of nursing home stuff,” but had never sued Clement Manor before.

But he wasn’t handing out praise in this case.

“This was a callous disregard for this woman’s safety and her life,” he said. “Their choice not to respond to this alarm led to her death.”

Ferger said Clement Manor is an independent, religious-affiliated corporation, with sponsorship from the School Sisters of St. Francis, one of the groups named in the lawsuit.

Another named group, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Clare, is not involved in running Clement Manor, he said.

The crash occurred when 17-year-old Danielle Held tried to make a sudden U-turn at Beaver Dam Road. A pickup truck behind Held collided with the driver’s side of Held’s vehicle as she turned in the intersection.

The driver, 17-year-old Danielle Held, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her passenger, Nolan Sheppard, 18, was flown to Froedtert Hospital.

The crash remains under investigation.

According to authorities, the dog, a boxer, was tied to a pole on a leash and chain. The dog somehow managed to free itself from its collar and attack the little girl while she was playing in the backyard.

Taylor Becker was taken to a local hospital where she died early Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say they have no information indicating the animal had a history of violence. Authorities also say it’s too early to determine if any charges would be filed.

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MetLife Foundation Healthy Living Initiative at Dance Exchange, Residency at Saint John’s On The Lake, June 21-25, 20 from Keith Knox on Vimeo.

The following brands are targeted by the recalll:

• Lucerne
• Albertson
• Mountain Dairy
• Ralph’s
• Boomsma’s
• Sunshine
• Hillandale
• Trafficanda
• Farm Fresh
• Shoreland
• Lund
• Dutch Farms
• Kemps

Eggs are packed in 6- 12- or 18-egg cartons with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, and 1946.

Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.

Consumers should not eat the eggs and should return recalled eggs to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

The plastic Sonya Lee figure in the play set can break at the waist, exposing small parts that pose a choking hazard to young children.

The recall involves 96,000 Little People Play ‘n Go Campsite units sold in the U.S. and Canada. The seven-piece plastic play set includes Sonya Lee, a tent and other accessories. Product number R6935 is printed on the toy’s packaging. The name Sonya Lee is printed on the underside of the figure. Only Sonya Lee figures that bend at the waist, have a green sweater and purple camera around the neck are included in this recall. No other Sonya Lee figure is affected. The remaining pieces of the Little People Play ‘n Go Campsite are not affected.

The firm has received eight reports of the Sonya Lee figure breaking. No injuries have been reported.

The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. while the man was washing out the truck’s loading port and became caught between the truck’s rotating drum and its loading hopper, according to the release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.