An Iowa nursing home resident died last month after being catapulted out of her wheelchair while riding in one of the facility’s vans with no seatbelt in place.
State inspection records indicate Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids failed to provide a resident in a wheelchair with a lap-and-shoulder seatbelt before attempting to drive her from a cardiology appointment back to Cottage Grove Place on April 2, 2026.
While the resident’s wheelchair was securely locked in place in the back of the van, the resident was not buckled into the chair, inspectors concluded. As a result, the inspectors reported, the woman “flew forward out of the wheelchair and over a folded middle-row seat” when the driver of the van swerved and braked to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
An ambulance was summoned to the scene and EMTs reported that while the woman showed “few wounds” from the fall, she had no pulse and no signs of respiration.
The woman was reported to be lying face down with her head wedged between the driver’s seat and the second row of seats — possibly contributing to “positional asphyxia,” a situation in which an individual’s breathing is obstructed by their positioning.
Police indicated the resident’s injuries were consistent with being ejected from the wheelchair, suggesting the resident’s lap-and-shoulder seatbelt had not been in place.
According to inspectors, the driver of the van stated that he was not trained at Cottage Grove Place how to secure residents in a wheelchair using that van’s lap-and-shoulder seatbelt, adding that “no one used it.”
Another Cottage Grove Place driver reportedly told inspectors he had been working for the home about 10 months and the training he had received was “minimal” – describing it as “15 minutes of onboarding, and then it was go time.” There was no lap-and-shoulder restraint available in the van, he allegedly told inspectors.
A third driver for the home reportedly told inspectors she had not been evaluated on the proper technique for securing a wheelchair and using lap-and-shoulder restraints.
As a result of the death, the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing proposed an $8,250 state fine, but held that fine in suspension due to the potential for federal fines to be imposed at a later date.
