From today’s New York Times piece on MRI safety:
The pictures and stories are the stuff of slapstick: wheelchairs, gurneys and even floor polishers jammed deep inside M.R.I. scanners whose powerful magnets grabbed them from the hands of careless hospital workers.
The police officer whose pistol flew out of his holster and shot a wall as it hit the magnet. The sprinkler repairman whose acetylene tank was yanked inside, breaking its valve and starting a fire that razed the building.
…But the bigger picture is anything but funny, medical safety experts say.
Aw, but what do medical safety experts know about humor? We’re not done laughing yet, especially after seeing the pictures in this archive.
Alas, reading the full article does reveal some grim tales from MRI mishaps — enough to make anyone stop laughing. But I put the blame on these same safety officers, for failing to properly explain why zippers and bra hooks are safe for patients to wear (it’s officially “because they can’t come loose”) and that IV pole from across the room is unsafe. After all, no one thought that IV pole would come loose, either.
More at MRIsafety.com…
(hat tip: JCK)
Update: mri-planning.com works to address this issue.