Maryland Nursing Home Bed Rail Entrapment Lawyer
Bed rail entrapment occurs when patients become stuck in the rails of their bed, which inhibits movement, prevents them from getting out of bed, and in some cases, leads to death. It is a terrifying experience that is also one of the most common problems in nursing homes.
If your loved one experienced bed rail entrapment that resulted in injury or death, contact a Maryland nursing home bed rail entrapment lawyer as soon as possible to begin discussing your options.
With a seasoned nursing home abuse lawyer, you can begin examining the causes of the entrapment and determine how to prove the nursing home’s negligence. If you can provide enough evidence, you may be able to receive compensation for the suffering or death of your loved one.
Risks of Bed Rail Entrapment
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning of the risks that bed rails pose to elderly individuals. Although these risks are always present, nursing homes have a legal obligation to watch their residents and follow the proper protocol to protect them from entrapment and minimize the risk of injury.
Bed rail entrapment can cause:
- Blood vessel constriction
- Lacerations
- Strangulations
- Fractures
- Agitation
- Frustration
Even scarier is the fact that experiencing these injuries can cause residents to self-harm in an attempt to break free. Unfortunately, this often makes the situation worse and causes injury.
What Causes Bed Rail Entrapment?
Without proper care, bed rail entrapment is much more likely to occur. In fact, the most common cause of this injury is undertraining of nursing home staff. When the staff does understand the proper precautions and regulations for patient care, entrapment is more likely. Other causes are willful negligence of nurses that do not properly attend to the needs of residents and old beds that are in poor condition.
Regardless of the cause, it is important for potential plaintiffs to contact a Maryland nursing home bed rail entrapment lawyer as soon as possible following the accident. From here, family and loved ones can begin to determine their options and piecing together a case with a compassionate legal professional.
Proving Negligence
To prove negligence, the plaintiff must show that the nursing home did not meet the standards of the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), which are presented under the Code of Maryland General Health Article §19-343. These standards ensure that residents are provided with accommodations, treatment, care, and services that promote a healthy life.
In many cases, the plaintiff needs an expert witness to testify that the nursing home fails to meet the COMAR standards. However, the defense may bring their own witness to attest otherwise. In these cases, it is important to craft a case that provides no doubt that the cause of the resident’s bed rail entrapment was due to the negligence of the nursing staff.
The plaintiff must prove things such as:
- Failure of the facility to prevent bedrail deterioration
- Lack of a comprehensive care plan for each resident
- Failure to provide adequate care
To present relevant evidence and prove negligence to the court, it is best to use the help of a vehement Maryland nursing home bed rail entrapment attorney. With experience presenting and navigating the legal complexities of these particular cases, an experienced attorney could fight as best as they can to gain the plaintiff compensation.
How a Maryland Nursing Home Bed Rail Entrapment Attorney Could Help
It is never easy when a loved one experiences injury in a nursing home. With the help of a Maryland nursing home bed rail entrapment lawyer, you could fight as best as you can for the compensation that you and your loved one deserve. It is often a difficult process, but one that is necessary to begin moving forward.
