Emergency Vacuum Mattress

28,000.00

The vacuum mattress is an alternative to the use of a long spine board. Its advantages are:

Comfort
Being adaptable to all traumas (included spinal and femoral traumas).
The patient is held more securely
The patient is more easily transported short distances provided sufficient team members (typically six) are available, and in confined spaces compared to a conventional stretcher.
Distributes pressure more equally on body surfaces, leading to lower risk for pressure ulcer formation compared to a long board
Its drawbacks include:

Relatively fragile (useless unless a perfect vacuum is maintained).
Increased cost relative to a traditional long spine board
The time taken to evacuate the bag compared to readily available standard spinal board.

Description

A vacuum mattress, or vacmat, is a medical device used for the immobilisation of patients, especially in case of a vertebra, pelvis or limb trauma (especially for femur trauma). It is also used for manual transportation of patients for short distances (it replaces the stretcher). It was invented by Loed and Haederlé, who called it “shell” mattress (matelas coquille in French).

The vacuum mattress is put on a stretcher or possibly on a long spine board. The straps are put under the mattress, along its side, so they do not reach the ground. Then, the polystyrene balls are distributed evenly through the mattress by shaking its surface. (A section with fewer balls would be less rigid, conversely if balls are concentrated at any given point this becomes more rigid.) A sheet is put on the mattress, folded so it will be possible to pull it to wrap the casualty into using an S-fold and finally a team member should double-check the pump (manual or electrical) is set to either pump air out of the bag.

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