Emory Decatur Hospital complaint alleges unprepared rehab room before ambulance stretcher fall
The complaint alleges that a patient was transferred by ambulance from a hospital to an Emory Decatur Hospital inpatient rehabilitation facility on April 10, 2019. Staff at the rehabilitation facility knew of the transfer for several days but did not clear a nightstand from beside his assigned bed. When the ambulance crew wheeled him into the room on a stretcher at about 3:18 p.m., the stretcher caught on the nightstand and flipped. He was strapped to the stretcher, fell to the ground, and suffered permanent injuries.
Overview
This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a rehabilitation facility did not clear a room hazard before a patient fell from an ambulance stretcher.
Chronology
The complaint alleges as follows:
- The patient had a total knee replacement at another hospital on April 3, 2019, and his physician recommended inpatient rehabilitation.
- He was accepted for transfer to the Emory Decatur Hospital inpatient rehabilitation facility, with communications between the two facilities beginning April 4, 2019.
- The rehabilitation facility formally accepted the transfer by 11:00 a.m. on April 10, 2019. Its hospitalist began an admission history and physical at 2:38 p.m., more than 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived.
- A nurse at the sending hospital called the rehabilitation facility just before the patient left, and the ambulance crew arrived at 3:09 p.m.
- No one from the facility questioned or assisted the ambulance crew before they entered the patient’s room.
- The facility had not moved a nightstand away from the bed, and at about 3:18 p.m. the stretcher caught on it and flipped.
- The patient, who was strapped to the stretcher, hit the ground and suffered permanent injuries.
Alleged failures
The complaint alleges the following failures:
- The rehabilitation facility knew of the scheduled transfer days in advance but did not remove the nightstand from beside the bed.
- Its nurses did not ensure the room was free of hazards that could interfere with a safe stretcher transfer.
- No staff member questioned or assisted the ambulance crew before they wheeled the patient into the unprepared room.
- The complaint pleads nursing negligence and ordinary negligence against the hospital and hospitalist defendants, and attaches an expert nursing affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1.