NYU-Langone - Infant falls out of incubator

[DoGoodThenGo]

LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) --

A baby suffered a cracked skull from a fall in the preemie ward at an area hospital, with officials blaming mechanical failure on an incubator door. But the family is having a hard time with that explanation.

The Bronx mother says it simply does not make any sense that a tightly-wrapped baby would roll out of an incubator, even if the door did suddenly pop open. But that's what she says the hospital is saying caused her baby's serious head injury.

The Investigators: Mom's questions linger after infant's skull fractured at NYU Langone in New York | abc7ny.com

[RiskManager]

Based on my experience with similar malpractice cases involving fetal/infant neurological injury, and depending on when the statute runs, parents and their counsel sometimes wait a few years before filing. This is because the full extent of any neurological damage or deficit cannot be well established until the child reaches a few years of age and can participate in neurological testing to assess cognition, intellect and any physical deficit. Based solely on what I have read in the media, it appears as if this case would be a settlement candidate.

[KRVRN, BSN, RN]

By port holes, you're talking about the arm holes, right? I can't imagine an infant being able to manipulate itself through that.

I've seen babies manuever themselves head first right up to the arm holes, with the only thing keeping them in being the non-broken latch. I've seen preemies perpendicular on the mattress to how I've left them and I've also seen preemies sideways at the bottom and the top of the isolette in the "trench" area. They generally have to be prone and not swaddled for such misbehavior. 2 pound babies! A pissed off prone preemie that's crying, arching his head and neck backward and stiffening his limbs will end up in all sorts of positions, esp since we elevate the head of the mattress. They can creep upward on their belly or slide toward the bottom. The porthole latches HAVE to be functional!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Based on my experience with similar malpractice cases involving fetal/infant neurological injury, and depending on when the statute runs, parents and their counsel sometimes wait a few years before filing. This is because the full extent of any neurological damage or deficit cannot be well established until the child reaches a few years of age and can participate in neurological testing to assess cognition, intellect and any physical deficit. .

Yes, in spite of the quote in the article, I don't believe it's going to take "several years" to determine the extent of the injury (by several, I'm thinking more than 3-6 years).

The reason why the statute of limitations is 18 years is not to fully assess the extent of damage, but to allow the ADULT child to sue on their own behalf (telling this to the OP, not to you RM, as I'm sure you already know that). This will be settled LONG before that happens.

[fulitarn, BSN, RN]

I've seen two pound babies who manage to wiggle themselves all over the isolette, including finding them up against the wall and the port hole doors.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Maybe there's a cover-up, that's always a possibility. On the other hand, the story given by the hospital is completely believable.

*I've personally found a 3 pound baby curled up on the inner lip of an isolette's porthole. Of course she had been screaming uncontrollably earlier in spite of my perfect prone positioning on a comfy sheepskin. The isolette was covered with a light-blocking cover and it appears that she screamed and arched until she popped out of my positioning, curled up on that "oh-so-comfy" plastic lip and went to sleep. If the latch had been defective, that baby would have been on the floor.

*People keep referencing "arm holes" like there is barely room to slide one's hand and arm inside these portholes. Just not true. The incubator in the picture is one of the most commonly used out there now, but the porthole sizes are approximately the same with every brand of incubators I've worked with in the last 14 years.

(photo credit:

http://www.unionhospital.org/img/departments/maternity-care-center/Giraffe1.jpg)

*I also personally witnessed an incident where an infant was hanging on to the porthole. Only that infant's grasp reflex kept it from falling on the floor. It's possible the nurse may have unintentionally have left the porthole open. It happens. (the baby was fine, the baby's nurse was an emotional wreck).