Rules requiring inpatient psychiatric facilities to take extraordinary measures to prevent patients’ ability to hang or strangle themselves may do little to increase safety, according to an article on the West Hartford News website.
These measures can cost millions of dollars to implement.
Some changes, such as replacing lever-type door handles, eliminate opportunities for patients to try to hang themselves. Others include adding a slanted strip of wood along the tops of picture frames and card readers, even in areas where patients are never allowed to be alone.
Herman McKenzie, director of the Department of Engineering for the Joint Commission’s Standards Interpretation Group, said everything possible should be done to reduce the risk of patients harming themselves. “I would say it it’s one of my loved ones or if it’s myself, I would want to make sure that someone is looking out for my welfare and I wouldn’t want to have a cost/benefit analysis on my life.”
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