Man Seriously Injured by Laundry Hamper During MRI
A patient in Massachusetts was struck in the head by a high speed laundry hamper after someone left it in the MRI room with metal inside.
The Lowell Sun reports that last month a patient was having an MRI done at Lowell General Hospital Saints Campus when a laundry hamper struck him in the skull. The hamper hit him with enough force to fracture the bones in his face. Fortunately he was already at the hospital at the time.
Dr. Stephen T. Sweriduk, Medical Director for Shields Health Care Group, apologized for the incident, stating, “The safety and well-being of patients is our top priority at Shields Health Care and Lowell General Hospital Saints Campus.” He continued, “This is completely outside the norm for us because both organizations embrace rigorous safety training and education for staff. We have already met with staff to review best practices and ensure that we are doing everything possible to continue to foster a culture of safety across all of our clinical areas.”
Apparently someone at the hospital mixed up the laundry hampers and put one inside the MRI room that had metal inside it. Metallic objects are never allowed inside an MRI suite due to the powerful magnetic force of the MRI machine. The radiology technologist did not notice the wrong hamper until the scanner had been turned on and it was suddenly attracted to the magnet with great velocity, striking the patient inside.
Metallic objects left inside the MRI room are the number one cause of MRI related accidents. It is the most dangerous part about getting an MRI done. Imaging centers have rigorous inspection standards and a lot of warning signs about metal in the suite, so someone probably got fired for this.
So far the man involved has not pressed legal charges.