Waterbeds Or Water Pillows
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Home Furnishings & Fixtures · CPSC Code 662
Down 58% over 5 years
The verdict
Waterbeds Or Water Pillows carry a danger score of 31/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 325 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 58% over the last five years.
- 31/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 325
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 14.2%
- end in hospital admission
- 45-54
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 662 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 31/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for waterbeds or water pillows - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume325 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)14.2%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-58%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Waterbeds Or Water Pillows (CPSC product code 662, in the Home Furnishings & Fixtures category) generate an estimated 325 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 6,506 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 31/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 58% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2006 (1,113 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2018 (16 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for waterbeds or water pillows is other to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 483 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (336 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 1,319 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 14.2% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how waterbeds or water pillows fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 503 | 270 | |
| 5-14 | 194 | 392 | |
| 15-24 | 272 | 89 | |
| 25-34 | 178 | 713 | |
| 35-44 | 541 | 579 | |
| 45-54 | 551 | 768 | |
| 55-64 | 294 | 410 | |
| 65-74 | 169 | 104 | |
| 75+ | 314 | 165 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Fracture | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Elbow | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
56YOF, ATTEMTPING TO GET OUT OF WATER BED VERSUS BED WHEN HAND SLIPPPED STRIKING THE BEDFRAME, DX: LEFT HAND PAIN
3YOM SLEEPS IN A WATER BED WITH HIS SISTER. HE WAS TRYING TO CRAWL OFF THE BED WHEN HIS LEFT LEG GOT CAUGHT BETWEEN THE MATTRESS AND THE BED FRAME DX: LEFT TIBIAL FRACTURE
65YOF PATIENT WAS TAKING APART A OLD WATERBED WHEN THE HEAD BOARD PIECE FELL AND HIT THE TOP OF THE LEFT SIDE OF HER HEAD DX: POST CONCUSSION SYNDROME
69YOM PATIENT WAS AT HOME, HE WENT TO GET INTO HIS WATERBED AND HE SLIPPED AND FELL DOWN ONTO THE FLOOR, MULTIPLE ABRASIONS TO HIS CHEST WALL, ELBOWS, HIPS, AND KNEES DX: TRAUMATIC RHABDOMYOLYSIS, ABRASIONS OF MULTIPLE SITES, FALL AT HOME
56 YOM SLIPPED OUT OF WATER BED LAST NIGHT, WAS ON HIS KNEES AND COULD NOT GET BACK UP.DX: KNEE PAIN, SHOULDER PAIN, ADULT FAILURE TO THRIVE.
59 YOF WAS MOVING A FRIEND'S WATER BED AND FELT A POP . DX: RIB STRAIN.
70YOF FELL OFF OF WATER BED WHILE HANGING CURTAINS AND BRUISED RIBS AT HOME. DX: RIB CONT.
72YOM-PT STATES WAS GETTING OUT OF WATERBED ABOUT 4 THIS MORNING AND FELL AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE BED CONTINUIG TO HAVE PAIN DX; CHEST WALL CONTUSION
54YOF C/O LT LEG PAIN ONSET 3 MTHS AGO WHEN SHE WAS ASSISTED OUT OF A DEFLATED WATER BED BY A FRIEND WORSE PAST 3 DAYS DX: LIKELY MUSCULAR STRAIN
44YOM REPORTS HAVING SEIZURE AND FELL ON SIDE OF WATER BED INJURING RIBS AT HOMEDX RIB PAIN
41 YOM INJURED SHOULDER,PUSHING OFF BED RAIL OF WATERBED,AT HOME. DX-RIGHT SHOULDER STRAIN
81 YOM FROM HOME HAS A WATERBED; WIFE REPORTS BED WAS NOT SET UP CORRECTLY BY HIS NURSES AND WAS LOOSE; HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO SITUATE HIMSELF AND FELL OUT OF BED ONTO HIS ABDOMEN; NO TRAUMA IN PE DX FALL, AFIB WITH RVR
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to waterbeds or water pillows on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are waterbeds or water pillows?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, waterbeds or water pillows have a danger score of 31/100 (low risk). An estimated 325 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from waterbeds or water pillows?
The most common injury is other to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 483 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from waterbeds or water pillows increasing or decreasing?
Down 58% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for waterbeds or water pillows injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 1,319 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by waterbeds or water pillows?
Of all ER visits involving waterbeds or water pillows, approximately 14.2% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (85.8%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with waterbeds or water pillows?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Home Furnishings & Fixtures
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 31/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 45-54 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
