Once an individual is in a hospital it is not uncommon for them to assume that they will be free from harm. The reality however is much different. Patients are routinely hurt in hospitals and other medical treatment facilities due, not to medication errors or a failure to diagnose, but something as simple as a fall.
Recognizing this is an issue for many, a federal agency, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, recently provided a toolkit designed to reduce the number of falls that occur in hospitals throughout the nation, including the Pittsburgh area. Nationally, 700,000 such incidents occur each year. There are several ways in which the agency believes these numbers can be reduced.
The first is to bring the discussion into daily rounds. In addition to checking with the patient to make sure they do not need anything that is out of reach, this would include moving items closer to the patient and making sure the bed is secured in a way to prevent the patient from falling.
Another suggestion offered in the toolkit it to keep all patients who may be at risk of falling in the same geographic area of the treatment facility. In addition to completing checks with the patients more frequently, the beds in rooms in that area could also be closer to the ground and rooms equipped with special signs to remind patients to stay in bed.
Last, when such falls do occur, it is important that time be taken to review the incident. Doing so could go a long way toward reducing the number of such incidents that happen in the future.
In some cases falls lead to longer a longer period of hospitalization. In other cases however, the injuries suffered are so serious that they result in death. In either of these situations a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital or healthcare provider may be appropriate.
Source: American Medical News, "Toolkit offers new ideas for preventing hospital falls," Kevin B. O'Reilly, Feb. 26, 2013
Medical malpractice cases can arise in a variety of settings for a variety of reasons. Our firm provides counsel in these types of matters. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit our page that focuses on Pittsburgh hospital negligence.