Abstract:
During post-accident situations, it is important to minimize the movement of the victim to eliminate the chances of secondary injuries caused as a result of transferring the victim from site of emergency. FLEX – AID is an emergency stretcher that understands the needs of an accident emergency and improves the experience of intra-hospital mobility by providing a solution that not only assists the process of patient transfer but also simplifies the operation of stretcher loading into the ambulance. It provides safe and easy transfer to individuals with limited mobility caused by accident extremity.
The hospitals in Pakistan are mostly ill-equipped to cater to the needs of masses during an emergency. Weak infrastructure which includes limited number of wheelchairs and hospital beds means the patients often have to go through long waiting times and uncomfortable situations. It has been observed that during this hour of accident emergency the patient suffers the most during critical stages when he requires sophisticated means of handling. These critical stages are tackled with rudimentary and elementary equipment because of lack of resources and awareness to handle an emergency situation which most often results in aggravating the patient’s condition.
The means of transportation used for a patient from the site of accident to the hospital is the hub of intra-hospital mobility, where a number of times patient is made to shift from stretcher to wheel chair and bed in extreme pain and trauma. This flow of the patient in the hospital can be interconnected making their transportation from one unit to another unit the core of movement. All of this increases the stress level of the accident emergency patient, already going through a lot of mental and physical fatigue. The proposed solution aims to minimize the rate at which the patient is manually repositioned and simplifies the process of patient intra-hospital transfers
