As of a December 2006 publication, Pennsylvania healthcare facilities have reported through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System more than 100 reports of hospital bed rail entrapment.
Harm
About 4% of the entrapment reports were classified as Serious Events, and about 50% of the Incidents indicated some type of injury. The remaining reports indicated either that no injury occurred or no injury was specified. The majority of entrapments resulted in either no harm or minor injuries (i.e., abrasions, skin tears, lacerations, bruises/redness, indentations, pain/discomfort); however, all reports indicated that healthcare workers needed to extricate the patient to prevent greater harm.
The most severe injury reported had a Harm Score of F (i.e., an event occurred that contributed to or resulted in temporary harm and required initial or prolonged hospitalization). In this case, the patient required an extended hospital stay to treat a significant methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection of a skin tear on a leg that had been caught in a side rail.
Age
Sixty-eight percent of the entrapped patients were 70 years of age or older. However, the ages of entrapped patients reported ranged from 10 months to 99 years old. Therefore, all ages may be at risk of entrapment, particularly if other risk factors are present.
Body Part Entrapped
Thirty-nine percent of the PA-PSRS entrapment reports did not specify the body part entrapped. Entrapment of the head and chest (associated with potential for serious injury) occurred in 9% of the reports. The most common entrapped body parts were lower extremities (25%) and upper extremities (11%). Nine percent of reports involved entrapment of more than one body part, while another 3.5% involved the hip/pelvis. The remaining 3.5% indicated that the body/torso was entrapped.
Entrapment Zone
Eighty-seven percent of the entrapments reported to PA-PSRS occurred in three zones: Zone 5 (39%), Zone 1 (26%), and Zone 3 (22%). This pattern varies from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA’s) data in which the majority of reported entrapments occurred in Zones 1 through 4. The Joint Commission has received sentinel event reports of entrapment that involved Zones 1,3,5, and 6. These variations may be the result of FDA’s and Joint Commission’s databases containing a greater proportion of deaths and serious injuries, while the PA-PSRS reports are predominantly near misses.
Figure 1. Bed Entrapment Zones
Bed image adapted from: U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Hospital bed system dimensional assessment guidance to reduce entrapment—guidance for industry and FDA staff [online]. 2006 Mar 10 [cited 2006 Nov 17]. Available from Internet: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/beds/guidance/1537.html.
Excerpted from: I’m stuck and I can’t get out! Hospital bed entrapment. PA PSRS Patient Saf Advis 2006 Dec. http://patientsafety.pa.gov/ADVISORIES/Pages/200612_15.aspx.