‘Smart bed’ helps patient mobility, issues alerts to staff

Samantha Grier/Contributed photo Nurse Tania Stumpf poses with West Chester Medical Center's new smart beds. Each bed has a low air loss mattress that cuts down on skin breakdown. They also have rails on the bed that can detect when a patient gets out of bed, a safety feature.

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By Tiffany Y. Latta, Staff Writer Updated 11:37 PM Wednesday, April 22, 2009

It’s not a hotel room, but there’s a private shower, personal closet, flat-screen television, large windows and a remote-controlled bed equipped with a low air cushion mattress that vibrates, shifts and tilts to provide therapeutic massage, prevent pressure sores or assist in getting off the bed.

It’s a patient room at the West Chester Medical Center, and the bed may be the most unique feature of the hospital. The “smart bed’’ is in every patient’s room in the high-tech hospital.

“They’re wonderful," said Michelle Eckert, clinical manager for Patient Care Services. The beds rotate the immobile or those confined to their beds for long periods of time. They’re also equipped with alarms that alert staff when a rail is down or for other emergencies. The information is transmitted to nurse stations and, in the event of an emergency, throughout the hospital.

Eckert said the bed’s vibrating component will help patients with respiratory problems, pneumonia or cystic fibrosis who rely on vests or other devices to remove mucus from their lungs.

Stephanie Savicki, the hospital’s director of marketing, said: “The name says it all. You have to be smart to use one.”

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