In a startling incident at a Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Redwood City, California, a nurse found herself trapped between an MRI machine and a hospital bed. Ainah Cervantes, the nurse at the center of this harrowing event, suffered severe injuries and subsequently required surgery.
The accident, which occurred in February, resulted in crushing injuries to Cervantes. The MRI machine was situated next to the bed of a patient that Cervantes was helping and the machine’s magnetic force pulled the hospital bed toward it. The patient fell out of the bed but Cervantes was stuck in the middle.
Part of her medical treatment included the removal of two screws that had become embedded in her body during the accident. The ramifications of this incident are not limited to the physical injuries sustained by Cervantes but have also brought to light several safety failures at the Medical Center.
According to the investigation, the Medical Center exhibited several safety lapses on the day of the incident. Notably, no MRI personnel were on-site when the accident occurred. Furthermore, the investigation noted that there was an absence of any screening process, and the door alarm for the MRI room had not been tested annually, which is a recommended safety protocol.
The report shed light on what it described as a “culture of unsafe practices” at the Medical Center. These lapses in safety protocols and procedures raise questions about the safety standards maintained by the hospital.
Kaiser Permanente, while responding to the incident, ensured that those involved received care. However, the investigation uncovered several errors related to the operation of the MRI machine.
Adding to the concerns about the hospital’s safety track record, KTVU alleged that this was not an isolated event. Evidence surfaced in the form of a photograph from 2015 that showed a medical equipment cart magnetically attached to an MRI scanner in a separate incident.
As a result of the recent accident and the alleged missteps that followed, Kaiser Permanente faces a fine of $18,000. This penalty pertains to workplace injuries, and the reported lapses in safety practices.
It remains essential to highlight the significance of MRI safety. MRI machines use powerful magnets that can attract metal objects. If stringent safety protocols aren’t in place, accidents such as the one involving nurse Cervantes can occur. An MRI expert, Tobias Glik said that the machines do not stop pulling in an object after it is attached. “It will keep on pulling and pulling and squeezing to try to get the magnetic object closer, in contact with the MRI scanner itself.”
