OTTAWA – Health Canada is cautioning health-care facilities to scrutinize beds made before 2000 because they could cause fatal injuries.
   
The agency issued an advisory yesterday saying 12 incidents have been reported of patients becoming trapped in hospital beds since 2009, including three deaths.
   
Health Canada also says between 1980 and 2008 it received 67 reports of life-threatening bed entrapments, 36 of which led to death.
   
Health Canada says in one incident, a patient became trapped in the opening between the split side rails of a long-term care electric bed.
   
The model of bed is no longer manufactured but is still in use.
   
Health Canada says bed injuries ranged from a dislocated shoulder to less serious injuries such as cuts requiring stitches.
   
It says facilities that still use beds made before 2000 should contact manufacturers for advice on reducing entrapment hazards.