Resources for Nursing Home Bed Rail Equipment

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has drafted several reference tools about entrapment risk when using bed rails. One document in particular, the Hospital Bed System Dimensional and Assessment Guidance to Reduce Entrapment, is an extremely up-to-date piece of literature. This document was drafted in 2004 and approved in 2006. It addresses the risks with using bed rails, and the body parts that are particularly at risk in their use. The FDA also outlines the procedure for reporting an adverse event associated with bed rails.

Various resources are available for those seeking more information about bed rails and the hazards that these devices can present. Many federal agencies have compiled information about their use; you may find it helpful to review these resources if parent or grandparent is in a facility that requires the use of bed rails as a restraint device.

Do your research before making a decision about whether a bed rail is appropriate for your family member. The use of a bed rail should never be a cookie cutter decision.

Bed Rail Entrapment Death in Nursing Homes

Entrapments can result in serious injury and death.

When a patient becomes trapped between the bed and the side rail, the patient may have compression to the neck or chest area. Compression may mimic crush injuries and can cause serious injury or death. This compression can be especially serious in patients with clotting and bleeding disorders, weakened bones due to medication or osteoporosis, and the weak or elderly. The latter is also the population on whom side rails are more likely to be used. Patients also may become asphyxiated when they are trapped. This deprives the patient of oxygen and may result in brain damage or death.

The Food and Drug Administration has published many notifications, brochures, and reports about the use of bed and side rails in an institutional setting. These materials have addressed possible dangers and risks about their use and have issued guidance about what practitioners and institutions should do if an entrapment happens, and what can be done to help prevent entrapment. The FDA also established a hospital bed safety work group to look at the safety of the hospital beds and the side rails.

Despite the FDA having knowledge of the entrapment hazard and risks to patient life and safety, the FDA has yet to issue a recall for hospital bed rails and mattresses. This indicates a failure on the part of the FDA to address the issue sufficiently and protect patients from the beds they are using.