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Hospital bed manufacturers are making safer beds these days. These beds have rail safety systems that are designed to prevent a terrible problem that emerged with old-style beds – injuries and even death of patients who became entrapped in the rails. Many of these victims were frail elderly.

The challenge, though, is that myriad older beds – known as “legacy beds” – are still in use by organizations and facilities across the country. It’s a major concern for the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup. The coalition of bed manufacturers, academics, senior living executives, and others formed seven years ago.

“It’s great to see these safer systems with new beds, but we know there are a tremendous number of legacy beds being used, and many organizations really couldn’t afford to replace all of their beds,” says Beryl Goldman, who handles outreach for the workgroup. Goldman is also director of Kendal Outreach, an affiliate of Kendal Corporation.

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When you see a hospital bed, you expect to see it surrounded by rails, don’t you? Well, as a senior living executive, perhaps you don’t, but most families do expect that if their beloved elderly relative is in a bed, it should have rails.

That belief is one that the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup has been fighting since it formed seven years ago. The reason: Deciding whether to use bed rails is a key care decision.

“Someone who is cognitive and has sufficient strength can use bed rails to turn over and to move around in their hospital bed,” says Beryl Goldman, who handles outreach for the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup. Goldman is also head of Kendal Outreach, an affiliate of Kendal Corporation. “However, for people who are frail and cognitively impaired, bed rails can actually be hazardous.”

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