Vacuum mattress

Vacuum splint material is used in the emergency service for immobilization of fractures and for careful transport of patients when the suspicion or it is secured. It consists of an airtight casing and a loose filling of plastic beads. In the initial state, the rail material is soft and malleable. It is molded to the body / part of the patient and evacuated with a suction pump. The vacuum the beads are firmly pressed together, and the rail is hard. Thus, the fracture is immobilized and the patient thus protected from further injury during transport.

The vacuum splint material is radiolucent and can remain on the patient until the final assessment by a specialist.

Vacuum rail

The vacuum rail there for injuries to the arms or legs in the appropriate sizes.

It is placed around the injured body part of the patient and fixed and removed with strips with Velcro or buckles.

The application closed rail with open fractures predominate opinion differs. Mainly it 's about the issues:

• When pressure is applied to the ends of the bone? Vacuum splint material shrinks slightly by the evacuation.
• Is it possible to observe the wound? For a bleeding that can not be seen by a closed track.

Vacuum mattress

The vacuum mattress is used to care for injuries of large bone ( femur ) and the torso ( spine, pelvis ). The ambulance service also the nickname peanut bed is used due to the similarity with vacuum- packaged nuts.

The patient is placed with a scoop stretcher to the vacuum mattress.

For transport, the vacuum mattress is laid on a stretcher or scoop stretcher to prevent sagging. It is equipped with straps and handles and can be used to carry over short distances if need be.

In conjunction with a scoop stretcher, it is possible to turn a patient lying on his stomach with " sandwich " method axle justice and little movement on the back. In this method, the vacuum mattress is placed on the patient, foisted the scoop stretcher and fixed accordingly. After the rotation about the horizontal axis, the patient lies on his back in the vacuum mattress.

Like the scoop stretcher, vacuum mattress is available in all ambulances and ambulance. In the Anglo-American region usually a spine board is used instead of the combination scoop stretcher and vacuum mattress.

In hospitals, special vacuum mattresses are used as operating table pad, so that patients can not move in operations with tilted table or a specific storage comply exactly, especially in endoscopy.

• Patient recovery and immobilization