Records from the California Department of Health and Human Services, obtained by NBC 7, show a broken bed alarm and panic button contributed to the 2013 death of a patient who walked away from his room and outside of UCSD Medical Center.
The patient's body was found five days after he went missing, less than a mile from the hospital's entrance, according to the report.
When the patient left the bed, the alarm did not sound, and when nurses discovered he was missing and tried to contact security, the panic button did not work.
In a statement to NBC 7, a UC San Diego Health Sciences spokeswoman said the buttons have "undergone a software upgrade and are tested monthly for functionality." The system also submitted a correction plan to the California Department of Public Health, which accepted the plan.
Additionally, patients who are under video observation are now given orange wristbands to provide a visual clue to hospital employees that they should not be wandering unattended, according to the report.