Sad story on CNN

[Solideliquid]

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/30/phoenix.airport.death/index.html


It sounds as if this lady possibly had a psychiatric illness. One thing's for sure, the airport/city is going to feel the boot of that attorney.

 

[masterofnone]

Definitely sad, especially with 3 little kids 🙁. Seems like a pretty fishy story though...

 

[PeterG]

Seems like a pretty fishy story though...

yeah totally

 

[Anasazi23]

Anyone even remotely related to psychiatry knows that restraints have a morbidity and mortality rate associated with them.

The days of being able to throw a fit in an airport are over. More than likely she suffocated herself with her own arms whilst trying to escape from the cuffs after exhausting herself with her tirade.

 

[whopper]

If I remember correctly, mortality rate is approximately 1%, morbidity approximately 10% from restraints.

1% might not sound bad but considering how many times your place does restraints per year it could actually equalize out to a significant risk-especially when no one should be dying from it.

 

[Anasazi23]

Our hospital is no longer allowing vest restraints on the med floors.

Made our jobs easier, as I was a big fan of the vest restraint/geri-chair combo. It allowed the pt. to sit up, retain some dignity, to eat, scratch their nose, watch TV, and look near normal when they weren't agitated. Apparently some lady slumped down and got the thing caught around her neck and died somewhere in another hospital, and there's been a city-wide or state-wide movement to disallow their use.

I get disgusted when the beaurocracies allow big PC decisions to be made rashly based on anecdotal or poor evidence (HIPPA ayone?). Nevertheless, it's what we're stuck with...at least for now.

Now psychiatrists are forced to use more aggressive medication regimens since the vests aren't allowed to be used. I would argue that the morbidity from this will outweigh that of the death that occurred.

 

[MBK2003]

That posey vest mortality happened at our hospital (med not psych) and let me tell you, we were separately visited by the Feds (CMS), the state, and JCAHO in quick succession as a result. It was pain all around, particularly since psych was not involved in the original case, but we got the most scrutiny and were instructed to respond, "There is no such thing as a chemical restraint outside of the OR. We utilize medications to reduce agitation and other target symptoms but not to restrain patients" (all together in drone-like monotone).

The OP case reminds me of a truism that a supervisor shared - Patients brought to the psych ER from the airport are manic until proven otherwise.

 

[Solideliquid]

That posey vest mortality happened at our hospital (med not psych) and let me tell you, we were separately visited by the Feds (CMS), the state, and JCAHO in quick succession as a result. It was pain all around, particularly since psych was not involved in the original case, but we got the most scrutiny and were instructed to respond, "There is no such thing as a chemical restraint outside of the OR. We utilize medications to reduce agitation and other target symptoms but not to restrain patients" (all together in drone-like monotone).

The OP case reminds me of a truism that a supervisor shared - Patients brought to the psych ER from the airport are manic until proven otherwise.

Same thing at my hospital! We have been told "No, we do not use chemical restraint. We use medications PRN for agitation or psychosis".

 

[masterofnone]

"Anyone even remotely related to psychiatry knows that restraints have a morbidity and mortality rate associated with them.

The days of being able to throw a fit in an airport are over. More than likely she suffocated herself with her own arms whilst trying to escape from the cuffs after exhausting herself with her tirade."

While I certainly don't argue that restraints have an associated m&m, the point I was trying to make is that anyone remotely fimiliar with the police are aware of the occassional overagressive cop and their associated poor outcomes.

No, I'm not a cop hater- I highly respect them (in general) and think that they do (in general) a wonderful job. This particular story, as reported, just left me a little curious.