As reported on previously, the use of bed-rails in nursing homes poses a serious risk for elderly patients. Many elders have become trapped in bed-rails, where they have sustained serious injuries, some of which proved fatal.
A 76-year-old Edina woman suffocated in 2002 after becoming trapped in her bed-rails while at an assisted living facility. Now, 12 years later, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recalled the bed-rails produced before 2007 made by Bed Handles Inc., of Blue Springs, Missouri.
The older bed-rails were produced without safety retention straps. When attached to a bed without the straps, bed-rail handles can shift out of place. This poses the risk of creating a gap between the handle and the side of the mattress, which, according the agency, poses “a serious risk of entrapment, strangulation and death.”
Two other women, a 41-year-old disabled patient and an 81-year old elderly resident, have also died due to bed-rail entrapment.
The CPSC has directed any institution or private individual with one of the defective bed-rail handles to stop using the device immediately and contact Bed Handles Inc. for free safety retention straps and installation instructions. The company can be reached on weekdays at 1-800-725-6903 from 8:30am to 4:30pm or online at bedhandles.com/recall.html.
This blog is based on an article by the Star Tribune.
For more information regarding the risk of bed-rails for elderly nursing residents, please see our 9-part blog series, “The Dangers of Resident Bed Rails in Nursing Homes.”
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
