Panel formed to stem cases of violence
February 7, 2010
As a county Sheriff's Department detective and coroner, Stephen P. Nonn has seen some pretty gruesome crimes over his 30-year career. Now, Nonn is trying to stop crimes before they happen among one especially vulnerable slice of the population: the elderly.
"They're easy targets. Someone has to be there to speak for them. By the time my office gets involved, it's too late," said Nonn, the Madison County coroner since 2000.
Nonn and a group of health care, law enforcement and social service professionals have formed the Elder Abuse-Fatality Review Team, a kind of oversight panel to make sure the county's 26,000 elderly aren't being abused. They met for the first time last month.
The goal is to recognize abuse before someone is killed or injured and, in the event a death happens, to see how it could have been prevented. The effort will train health care workers and others to look for signs of abuse. Additionally, every funeral home in the county has a volunteer deputy coroner trained to spot for problems.
"They are my eyes and ears out there," he said.
Nonn said the group will teach the signs of abuse or exploitation."They're easy targets. Someone has to be there to speak for them. By the time my office gets involved, it's too late," said Nonn, the Madison County coroner since 2000.
Nonn and a group of health care, law enforcement and social service professionals have formed the Elder Abuse-Fatality Review Team, a kind of oversight panel to make sure the county's 26,000 elderly aren't being abused. They met for the first time last month.
The goal is to recognize abuse before someone is killed or injured and, in the event a death happens, to see how it could have been prevented. The effort will train health care workers and others to look for signs of abuse. Additionally, every funeral home in the county has a volunteer deputy coroner trained to spot for problems.
"They are my eyes and ears out there," he said.
The team will meet once a month to review cases. When there are no cases to review, Nonn said, they'll work on training.
"Not every case will be a criminal case, but there will be cases when things could have gone better," Nonn said. "We hope to create enough safeguards to protect the elderly."
Abridged
SOURCE: The Suburban Journals
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