Young boy dies after getting head stuck during first night in new medical bed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A tragic youngster has died after his head got stuck during his first night in a new medical bed, an inquest has heard.Ethan Wade was sadly found unresponsive the next morning by his father at their home in Chatham, Kent, leaving the family heartbrokenThe 4-year-old, who was non-verbal and had cerebral palsy, was using a specialist Olaf bed for the first time.After discovering the youngster lying face down, the horrified dad pulled Ethan free and screamed to the boy's mother, Jessica Gardiner, who dialled 999 before administering CPR as she was given instructions by the ambulance operator.Paramedics took over, “scooping” Ethan to their ambulance where they continued resuscitation with help from a critical care worker for about 25 minutes, reports the Mirror.After a heartbeat was detected, Ethan was rushed to a local hospital with his mum.

He was transferred to King’s College Hospital in London later the same day but his condition deteriorated and he died four days later.Dr Virginia Fitzpatrick-Swallow, a Home Office forensic pathologist, recorded the cause of death as hypoxia, a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain and consistent with entrapment.

She noted the nose and mouth had been covered resulting in a “degree of smothering”.Red ladder stripe marks on his neck and collarbone could have been caused by the “puckering” of the mattress, she added.

Dr Fitzpatrick-Swallow said on a video call to the inquest: “There was no underlying independent, natural disease that would explain respiratory arrest.”After raising the alarm at around 8am, a police officer arrived at the specially-adapted family home wearing body-worn video to record his visit and conversations with the parents.In one clip Mr Wade is heard to say that