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An investigation by KTVU revealed that a nurse at Kaiser Permanente's Redwood City Medical Center in California was severely injured in a "freak accident" that left her trapped in an MRI tube in February.
Documents obtained by the news station revealed that Ainah Cervantes was tending to a patient inside the MRI room when the machine's magnets started pulling the bed toward the tube.
The patient fell onto the floor and was unharmed. However, Cervantes found herself trapped between the bed and the MRI tube.
"I was getting pushed by the bed," Cervantes told investigators. "Basically, I was running backwards. If I didn't run, the bed would smash me underneath."
Cervantes suffered severe laceration injuries and had to undergo emergency surgery.
An investigation into the incident by the California Department of Public Health found that the hospital "failed to provide radiologic services in a safe manner."
The report cited several failures, including the lack of MRI personnel in the room and that the door to the magnetic room was left open. In addition, neither the nurse nor the patient were screened for metal objects that should not be brought into the MRI room.
Kaiser Permanente issued a statement to the news station and said they have taken corrective actions to ensure a similar accident does not occur in the future.
"Our teams responded quickly, and those involved immediately received the care and support they needed," said Sheila Gilson, senior vice president for Kaiser Permanente San Mateo area. "This was a rare occurrence, but we are not satisfied until we understand why an accident occurs and implement changes to prevent it from occurring again."
"As an organization committed to continuous learning improvement, Kaiser Permanente fully investigated the incident and used what we learned to make specific operation changes to enhance safety," Gilson added.