Hospital bed related fatalities: a review.
All medico-legal cases of unexpected death during hospitalisation or accommodation in rest or nursing homes, which were investigated at the Department of Forensic Medicine during a 30-year-period, have been reviewed. In the majority of cases, the fatal outcome was bedrail or restraint related, but falls out of bed or from a patient hoist lift can also trigger a death. As expected, the manner of death was mainly accidental. In about 70% of cases, mechanical asphyxia (such as smothering and thoraco-abdominal compression) was substantiated as the mechanism of death. A substantial number of the patients had important medical antecedents, such as cognitive impairment due to cerebro-vascular accidents. In about half of the cases, human negligence was clearly related to the event whereas in only 15% of cases was there a technical mistake. We believe that some sudden and unexpected fatalities, due to physical restraint or other devices (such as a patient hoist lift), are under-reported because of the medico-legal implications. However, reporting such events could induce better precautions and prevent recurrences. Therefore, this study may be important not only for forensic pathologists, but also for a larger group of social workers.
De Letter
Els A
EA
Ghent University, Department of Forensic Medicine, Jozef Kluyskensstraat 29, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
Vandekerkhove
Bart N W
BN
Lambert
Willy E
WE
Van Varenbergh
Dirk
D
Piette
Michel H A
MH
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data