A Novel First Aid Stretcher for Immobilization and Transportation of Spine Injured Patients

Effective immobilizationand transportationare vital to the life-savingacutemedical careneededwhen treating critically injured people. However, themost common types of stretchers used today arewroughtwith problems that can lead to furthermedical complications, difficulty inemploymentand rescue, and ineffective transitions tohospital treatment.Herewe report anovel first aid stretcher called the ‘‘emergency carpet’’, which solves these problems with a unique design for spine injured patients. Polyurethane compositematerial, obtainedby anovel process ofmanuallymixing isocyanate and additives, canbepoured into a specially designed fabric bag and allowed to harden to form a rigid human-shaped stretcher. The effectiveness of the emergency carpet was examined in the pre-hospitalmanagement of victimswith spinal fractures. Additionally, it was tested on flat ground and complex terrain aswell as in the sea andair.Wedemonstrated that the emergency carpet canbe assembled and solidified on the scene in 5 minutes, providing effective immobilization to the entire injured body. With the protection of the emergency carpet, none of the 20 patients, who were finally confirmed to have spinal column fracture or dislocation, had any neurological deterioration during transportation. Furthermore, the carpet can be handled and transported bymultiple mean