Pittsburgh Hospital Tasered Patient

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

State inspectors declared a state of immediate jeopardy at a Pittsburgh hospital recently after learning that a 78-year-old patient, who had threatened nurses with a pair of scissors, was tasered in violation of federal standards and its own policies.
The citation against the 315 bed Forbes Hospital marked the second time in a matter of weeks that Pennsylvania health surveyors cited a licensed facility for improper use of tasers. The other facility cited recently was UPMC Hanover.
According to the report on the Forbes incident, the patient identified as MR1 was tasered after becoming verbally and physically aggressive.
On March 13, the report states, the patient left his room, grabbed a pair of metal scissors from a nurses station and cut his IV line and cardiac monitor. He entered another patient's room. The other patient, the report states, was yelling and screaming.
"When nurses approached he threatened them with scissors and made a stabbing motion," the report continues.
Stating that the patient became "more and more agitated and aggressive," the state surveyors said the patient then made ominous threats about "not going down alone" and continued to lunge at staff.
"Security was forced to subdue MR1 by using a taser," the surveyors reported.
The patient then dropped the scissors and was assisted to his room. He was placed in bed, restraints were applied and he was given a dose of Haldol.
As they did in the UPMC case, the surveyors noted that a taser should not be used to apply restraints.
"The use of weapons in the application of restraints is not considered a safe and appropriate health care intervention," the report states. "Although the taser was to be used as a law enforcement tool, the patient was never placed in law enforcement custody."
The hospital filed a plan of correction in which it said the use of tasers would only be considered as a law enforcement action and staff would be retrained in the proper use.
In addition the hospital promised that a taser would never be used on a person known to be a patient.
The state of immediate jeopardy was lifted about four hours after it was declared.
The state report also cited Forbes for improperly using restraints in three of five patient records reviewed. A third citation was issued for failing to document that patients were advised of their rights.
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