Invacare Carroll CS, User Manual

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Appendix
1-150-068-A CS Bed Manual.doc © Carroll Healthcare Inc. Page 33 of 35
APPENDIX
SPECIAL NOTE
For your convenience, the March 2006 version of the FDA’s bed safety guidelines is provided in this section. The information
from the FDA’s brochure, published by Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup, is reproduced verbatim, the latest revision of which is
available at http://www.fda.gov.
A Guide to Bed Safety Bed Rails in Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Home
Health Care: The Facts
Bed Rail Entrapment Statistics
Today there are about 2.5 million hospital and nursing home beds in use in the United States. Between
1985 and 2005, 691 incidents of patients* caught, trapped, entangled, or strangled in beds with rails were
reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Of these reports, 413 people died, 120 had a nonfatal
injury, and 158 were not injured because staff intervened. Most patients were frail, elderly or confused.
*NOTE: In this brochure, the term patient refers to a resident of a nursing home, any individual receiving
services in a home care setting, or patients in hospitals.
Patient Safety
Patients who have problems with memory, sleeping, incontinence, pain, uncontrolled body movement, or
who get out of bed and walk unsafely without assistance, must be carefully assessed for the best ways to
keep them from harm, such as falling. Assessment by the patient’s health care team will help to determine
how best to keep the patient safe. Historically, physical restraints (such as vests, ankle or wrist restraints)
were used to try to keep patients safe in health care facilities. In recent years, the health care community
has recognized that physically restraining patients can be dangerous. Although not indicated for this use,
bed rails are sometimes used as restraints. Regulatory agencies, health care organizations, product
manufacturers and advocacy groups encourage hospitals, nursing homes and home care providers to
assess patients’ needs and to provide safe care without restraints.
The Benefits and Risks of Bed Rails
Potential benefits of bed rails include:

Aiding in turning and repositioning within the bed.

Providing a hand-hold for getting into or out of bed.

Providing a feeling of comfort and security.

Reducing the risk of patients falling out of bed when being transported.

Providing easy access to bed controls and personal care items.
Potential risks of bed rails may include:

Strangling, suffocating, bodily injury or death when patients or part of their body are caught between
rails or between the bed rails and mattress.

More serious injuries from falls when patients climb over rails.

Skin bruising, cuts, and scrapes.

Inducing agitated behavior when bed rails are used as a restraint.

Feeling isolated or unnecessarily restricted.