Comment from Jane Irvine

Many entrapment deaths occur when poorly designed portable bed rails move away from the bed, creating a gap, through regular use. Asphyxiation is a painful death. It is not what our seniors deserve. CPSC should take action on portable bed rails equal to what it has done for cribs that have entrapped babies. The CPSC research conducted in 2012 and covering a 9 year span showed that there have been approximately 4,000 emergency ward visits per year due to bed rail use! CPSC uncovered 155 bed rail deaths in that 9 year time frame. The FDA has reports on over 550 more bed rail related deaths (though most of those are in hospital bed rails). Both agencies acknowledge that the actual numbers must be much higher. Children's portable bed rails have warnings of risk of asphyxiation on them, required by law. Adult portable bed rails have nothing, although deaths of seniors far outweigh records of deaths of children.