I was lying in bed this morning, and like any self respecting EMSer, I was dreaming of spinal immobilization. Now, most people here (including myself) are deeply suspicious of the effectiveness of the B&C, but for better or worse it looks like its a procedure that will be hanging around for at least a while longer.
One of my biggest complaints with the board is that it is so uncomfortable for patients, especially elderly, arthritic patients who make up a good amount of my spinal immobilization calls. Patients who had minor back pain will develop shoulder, back and pelvic pain from the combination of lying on a hard piece of plastic, and from that plastic bouncing around on Pennsylvania roads (which are a bit rough). I try to pad the board/voids when possible, but sometimes it doesn't work or I don't have enough blankets on scene.
So after torturing another older lady with a spine board on the way to the hospital, I was thinking...why don't we have padded backboards? I'm not talking anything fancy, just an inch or two of padded material, similar to a stretcher mattress, covering the whole board.
I can't imagine that it would compromise the purpose of the board, nor would it make it significantly harder to carry or clean. And it would at least provide some measure of comfort too our patients as we bounce around in the back of the ambulance.
Now, keep in mind I'm still a little sleepy as a write this, so maybe I'm missing something important as to why we don't pre-pad our LSBs, hence why i'm throwing this idea out there. Anyone see why it would be a bad idea? Anyone use something like this?
One of my biggest complaints with the board is that it is so uncomfortable for patients, especially elderly, arthritic patients who make up a good amount of my spinal immobilization calls. Patients who had minor back pain will develop shoulder, back and pelvic pain from the combination of lying on a hard piece of plastic, and from that plastic bouncing around on Pennsylvania roads (which are a bit rough). I try to pad the board/voids when possible, but sometimes it doesn't work or I don't have enough blankets on scene.
So after torturing another older lady with a spine board on the way to the hospital, I was thinking...why don't we have padded backboards? I'm not talking anything fancy, just an inch or two of padded material, similar to a stretcher mattress, covering the whole board.
I can't imagine that it would compromise the purpose of the board, nor would it make it significantly harder to carry or clean. And it would at least provide some measure of comfort too our patients as we bounce around in the back of the ambulance.
Now, keep in mind I'm still a little sleepy as a write this, so maybe I'm missing something important as to why we don't pre-pad our LSBs, hence why i'm throwing this idea out there. Anyone see why it would be a bad idea? Anyone use something like this?