Topic: What is your company's policy on wellness checks? Any process for when a staff finds a resident who's passed on?

What is (if any) your company's policy on wellness checks? Any process for when a staff finds a resident who's passed on?

Staff can't do them. Police must be called to conduct the wellness check.

We are a senior tower so we do our own wellness checks, as long as we have been asked by a concerned family member or neighbor.
Protocol:
2 staff always go together. If just one staff member is on site we call law enforcement to go with us if we feel we need to. (I always grab a resident to walk with me and stand outside the door). We wear gloves, enter, confirm they aren't there/hurt/deceased.
If deceased...we leave and lock the door, call dispatch and wait for the authorities to give direction.

You have the family call the police. When they arrive you grab the residents lease file & escort them to the unit. You unlock the door and step back. You should not go in. Let the police do what they are trained to do. If they find someone has passed: 1) you provide the police with emergency contact etc. 2) you stand back until they are 100% finished processing the unit 3) if next of kin present they will surrender unit to them not you 4) if nobody present they will surrender unit to you.
Once surrendered to you then your job is to secure the unit- make sure windows locked and change all door locks. You are obligated to only surrender that key to the authorized person once that person arrives and nobody else. This means you are responsible for the contents of that unit until you surrender it to whomever.

Family must call the authorities and organize

Due to use finding residents deceased on a couple previous well checks, we automatically call our local PD.. Its just better that do it.. They get to make all necessary phone calls including to the family.

We call local PD to assist... we unlock the door and PD does the check, we won’t enter the apartment unless the resident is there and OK

We are not allowed to unlock the door, police have to get in by any means necessary.

I do not need a company policy to do the right thing and HELP with a wellness check. Been doing them for 25 years with no problems and an unfortunately found a couple pasted on. That's what the wellness check is for. Why wouldn't I open the doors for the police to save my company the money of having to pay for a broken door frame? #Commonsense

I’ve had some Managers end up with some issues finding a body that led to them taking time off work, so we always contact police for a wellness check and just let them enter to inspect. Management opens the door, but police enter.

It appears to be a common first indication for an unexpected passing of a resident are flies! I immediately call Police Dept to do welfare check! Then we contact Regional, emergency contact contact etc!! I never ever allow
Staff be a first responder to enter into unit

Thank you everyone for the insight. Unfortunately my company NEVER train us on this (any of the 2) so I've always entered and the resident's have answered the door and they where just avoiding family, sick, etc... I've had a door broken down before also, so to avoid another broken door I let the mom in as the other person on the lease granted permission.

From experience I NEVER do a wellness without the person asking for it contacting police first.
This actually happened;
Let’s call them Brad and Julie.
Brad comes to my office and asks us to check on Julie, he hadn’t heard from her in 5 days. I tell him to contact police and he says he doesn’t know her apt number. I tell him that’s fine the police will have to ask us to release. He leaves annoyed.
I see Julie later that day and tell her Brad came in and was worried about her. She immediately asked if I’d given her info to him, I reassured her I hadn’t and she told me Brad was a stalker from work who had tried to follow her home. If I had gone to do the check, Brad would have known her apt number. So many scenarios that can happen, you just never know. I also do not want my staff to walk in on something horrible, it’s better left to the police.

It’s a job for the police. Period. For many reasons including the fact that finding a dead body is very traumatic. I know. I’ve found 2.

We have a written policy to long for this message

In Georgia, there is a Personal Representative Addendum thats required to be signed, we contact those people on that addendum during wellness checks.

So many police kill under the umbrella of “welfare checks”, but it’s better than a criminal apartment “manager” who will most likely try to hide notes ,knowing they have tenants blood on their hands. They don’t care about anyone’s “wellness”, lol, they want to protect their ability to traumatize further good people. Yes, it’s come too that, sadly.