waylon1226

I absolutly hate these types of questions so I will answer yours then leave one of my own.

Why are you asking the above 3 questions?

Mobey,

I was trying to decide whether a pediatric restraint and backboard 2-in1 hybrid would be of any use. Like I stated earlier on in the thread, I am developing a pediatric restraint as a summer project.

What about a disposable restraint? One that is around $20 a pop and uses velcro. Would that be of any interest?

Hey guys, can you estimate the following figures for me?

1) How many calls does your service get per day?

2) How many pediatric calls does your service get per day?

3) How many pediatric calls require a full body restraint per day?

Thanks!

I'm working on a design that incorporates a hard backboard for immobilization and built-in straps for harness. How are backboards and straps cleaned? Hose? Washing machine? Thanks!

I believe that there are plastics right now that have "built in" anti bacterial properties ?

Yes agreed ... maybe to reduce the number of restraint devices to ONE per rig, a extention of sorts as in one size fits all ? I know that design is not my thing, hell I have difficulty putting Ikea funiture together .

Yes have used Papoose and no secure way of attaching to cot , good for a hospital setting for procedures as those squirmy little buggers are not easy to start a line on ... and Inter osseous (IO) is not preferred way for IV in a hospital antibiotic admin situation or fluid replacement.

Yup with all the new improved super bugs MRSA, VRE +++ a good marketing position, besides and except for 2c6 due diligence most of us just don't have the time to use a nail brush, that said IDC issues is a very serious gap in education of the EMS provider's, generally speaking.

cheers

Question:

Which areas of the pediatric patient's body needs to be exposed for medical attention and access? An EMS equipment sales person told me that both the chest and the abdomen need to be exposed becasue otherwise breathing would be impeeded. How much truth is there? Also, what kind of medical proceedures are most often performed on pediatric patients? Thanks!

Waylon:

I like the ARC the best just from a safety transport aspect for medically related calls (trauma requires proper spinal restriction) especially with over the shoulders straps for sudden unexpected braking or reverse thrust in fixed wing and with the RSV type patient that Dwayne has encountered and a better way to go (policy in Alberta Flying is they either must be in a approved carrier or restrained or in an incubator) the car seat was never designed for transport of sick kids but better than loose baggage.

A bit further north than podnuk corners the velcro straps have been abandoned due to the porous material and Infectious Disease control issues. 2c6 sure diligently washing is awesome but when short turn arounds are needed and one is dealing with a known pathogen velcro is virtually impossible to assure no transmition of disease. I would if designing something "modern day" with H1N1, RSV, and SARS go with all non porus.

Have you seen the "Papoose" carrier ? Yes a few to many sizes but the concept is good sans velcro that is http://www.quickmedi...ose_boards.html

Tniuqs:

That's a good point. I will take disinfection into account as an aspect of cleanability. Right now, my only solution to not using Velcro is to use three-pronged plastic snapfit buckles. If anyone has better ideas, please post.

I have seen the Papoose but thought the problem is that one has to buy all four sizes, which will cost more than $2000. Storage might be a problem with the Papoose system, too. Do you know if the Papoose can be fastened to cots? It doesn't say on the link you posted.

Thanks a lot!

Pedi-mate seems to be the most compact pediatric restraint system when stored. Has anyone experienced any difficulties with the product? What's good and what's bad about it? Do you think it's better than conventional car seats?

Thanks for the explanation. Sounds like an interesting project.

A few ideas to consider for you:

- How to properly and safely restrain Pt.'s that are below the weight requirements for current devices (pedimate, etc).

- Perhaps an add on strap or device for safely securing a childseat to the stretcher.

- Maybe a small pedimate designed more for newborns.

Good points. One of the main challenge of the design is to accommodate the wide range of patient sizes and weights. Here's a British product (not available in the US) similar to the pedimate. It's called the ACR (ambulance child restraint) and it has three sizes of restraints. I might look into something of the sort. What do you think about it?

http://www.paraid.co.uk/p-1-ACR-(Ambulance-Child-Restraint).aspx

LSP Pediatric Immobilizer. Or as I call it, the flat straight jacket. Whether they need immobilized or not, if you don't want them to move around, IV, etc.. Strap them down. If they're small, and sitting up is better, eg, respiratory issues, etc.. The Ferno Pedi-Mate is pretty helpful, just need to buy Ferno Straps, if you have different (like Stryker) stretchers.

2c4, I came across the LSP Pediatric Immobilizer at an AMR site. Medics there seem to think that the Velcro straps aren't suitable for EMS purposes. Have you had any trouble with them? Thanks a lot for posting!

Ferno pedimate, childseat built into captain's chair in pt. module, or for those falling outside the minimum weight restriction for those devices we secure the Pt.'s child seat to the stretcher. If spinal motion restriction is required I'll either use a KED, pad and tape void space in a child seat, or pad and strap as appropriate on the LSB (my service does not carry pediatric specific boards).

Call me cynical, but for a first post this comes across as having an axe to grind.

"Most medics confirm..."

Based on what? What sample size? What area?

"...which should NOT be tolerated."

Is there a story here?

Sorry, I should have said that of the medics I've talked to (not many) and from the posts on the forums, I got the impression that most medics either uses customers' own car seats or no restraints when transporting pediatric patients. I agree that the tone I used was a little over-the-top, so sorry about that.

I started the topic to foucs discussion on pediatric restraints on the forums becuase so far I've only come across bits of discussion here and there. I'm an undergraduate mechanical engineering and industrial design student currently working on a research project looking at pediatric restraint designs as a summer project. I'm in the research and benchmarking stage right now and hopefully from the input on this thread, I will be able to gather good information to generate some design concepts. So thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! Keep it rolling!

Every pedi we have ever transported has been in their own child seat or our supplied seat if we were called to an area where the child's seat wasn't available. Yes we actually carry child seats in our rigs and all trained in proper installation. We occasionally use the Captain's chair pedi seat although we don't like it much due to it being upfront and not very provider friendly.

If the pedi is old and weighs enough not to require a child seat they are on our cot and fully strapped in (as is every patient for that matter) shoulder harness is adjusted as not to be too uncomfortable about the only strap not used would be the 3rd leg strap down by the D tank due to the child's legs no being long enough to use said strap.

I agree with doc sounds like a fishing expedition with this as your first post? Whats the background for the question?

Thanks UGLy! So where do you store the child seats in your rigs? Don't they take up a lot of space? Also, how heavy or how big does a child have to be in order to not require a child seat per your opinion?

As I responded to doc's post, this is for a summer research project aimed at possibly generating some design concepts. Thanks a lot for posting!

Just wondering how medics are keeping kids safe in transport. So far most medics confirm using car seats or no harness at all. Some even let parents hold their kids (usually toddlers), which should NOT be tolerated. So what do you do?