X-Collar Cervical Spine Protection

[NREMTB12]

Found this on Youtube recently...the concept is cool and i get it, but has anyone on here ever used this thing on a rig or are they just a concept

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKNbov1oN4M&feature=related

 

[guardian528]

this was developed by the dad of one of the guy's in my basic class. my instructor is on the board of something or other for it, and he brought it in and demonstrated it and let us play around with it some. personally, i thought it was amazing. think about an MCI, you can quickly walk through and c-spine multiple people, and once it's on you don't have to manually hold. even for just one patient, it is amazing to not have someone tied up just holding their head. worked pretty well, not just one of those things that is a good concept but doesn't work, it actually held their head and neck very well

 

[mycrofft]

A "C collar" with cheek panels. I'm of mixed opinion.

A collar alone is not sufficient immobilization even if it goes a quarter of the way down a pretty young lady's spine, and if a pt is determined to move, he/she will injure themselves despite not being able to move their neck much. The thought in it is great, I question the practicality.

We need simpler cheaper effective devices. Ever made a C collar out of a SAM splint?

 

[NREMTB12]

A collar alone is not sufficient immobilization even if it goes a quarter of the way down a pretty young lady's spine, and if a pt is determined to move, he/she will injure themselves despite not being able to move their neck much. The thought in it is great, I question the practicality.

We need simpler cheaper effective devices. Ever made a C collar out of a SAM splint?

No, i havent made a C-collar SAM splint, but that seems like a nifty thing while in the field if you wouldnt mind sharing that little secret, anyway i just found this vid and actually i am in talks with a medic friend of mine and i believe he is gonna show this vid to the systems coordinator and see if we can get a test set of these to use on the rig and get feedback from our medics on how well and practical it was for them, i would also like to see these tried on my FD with the First Responder service we run

 

[el Murpharino]

How well would this work on a supine patient? Of course it will work great on the seated patient...but most patients I encounter aren't nicely sitting in a seat like the lady in the video.

 

[NREMTB12]

How well would this work on a supine patient? Of course it will work great on the seated patient...but most patients I encounter aren't nicely sitting in a seat like the lady in the video.

Actually, to me, and anyone that thinks otherwise constructively criticize this, but with the way i imagine she is laying down he would simply have to just put the back side of the collar behind her head and pull that front piece up and do all the adjusting and securing, to me seems a lot easier than having to fight with the guy holding manual immob. to try and shimmy the c-collar down and around the patients head, IMO

 

[Ridryder911]

Nice thought, but not practical. They make some very valid points, and as well looks great as it probably does better as securing more than the traditional cervical collars today. The problem arises though, in the application method. Alike described, all patients were standing up and being able to simply reach around 360 degrees for application is verily rarely available.

I also have issues with pressures being applied on the chest and post area. How much pressure and how much pressure is applied to the facial points as well.

Before any medical device is marketed and placed into the EMS arena, I would like to see at the least 5-7 years worth of credible research clinical data supporting the benefits and risks. As well, anything involving the cervical area needs the endorsement of neuro and orthopedic respectable organizations to really make it worthy.

Again, nice thoughts, but I believe will be another novelty that we will say, .."Oh yeah, I remember seeing that once".....

R/r 911

 

[Ridryder911]

Actually, to me, and anyone that thinks otherwise constructively criticize this, but with the way i imagine she is laying down he would simply have to just put the back side of the collar behind her head and pull that front piece up and do all the adjusting and securing, to me seems a lot easier than having to fight with the guy holding manual immob. to try and shimmy the c-collar down and around the patients head, IMO

This device makes NO claim of removing manual immobilization prior to application. As well, one of the thoughts of the dangers is movement of the head while application. As well, leaving the head in a non-aligned neutral position has risks and dangers.

The thought of application the cumbersomeness of this device without movement is non realistic if the patient is in a sitting position or in supine. Again, still the cervical spine should be manually held to prevent lateral and post/ant flexing movement.

Again, I would like to see some serious clinical reports on this before allowing to be placed upon any EMS unit.

If your unit is considering utilizing it, I highly suggest discussing it with your medical director and attorneys first.

R/r 911

 

[MSDeltaFlt]

From personal experience, I like the Philadelphia-type C-collars.

 

[guardian528]

Again, I would like to see some serious clinical reports on this before allowing to be placed upon any EMS unit.

If your unit is considering utilizing it, I highly suggest discussing it with your medical director and attorneys first.

R/r 911

it's not in production yet, just a few test models have been made as far as i know, so there will definitely be more tests. My instructor always griped about the MAST trousers being put into every ambulance in america based on a study of 7 people. that's not too effective of a study, and you can bet he doesn't want to repeat something like that.

again, I'm no expert or anything, I just saw it once when he brought it in to class to let us see/try it, but from that little experience that i had i really enjoyed how it worked. held the head very well, and didn't put any ridiculous pressure on the cheeks or chest like someone mentioned concern about. personally, i think this is a device EMS would really benefit from. the c-collar does a poor job immobilizing, it merely reminds the patient not to move their head. plus, think of how much easier an mva extraction could be made if you didn't have someone taking up space just holding their head, when you are forced to work in such a small area. we'll see what the future holds indeed, but i think the c-collar could be a 'remember when' in the near future

 

[Ridryder911]

If it works better, then I am all for it. The crap we use now is a joke and everyone realizes that for potential and real cervical injuries. I agree I like the Philly collar but the problem lies on placing the posterior portion and head movement was marginal at the least on a supine patient.

I am glad they are using good sense on development, maybe after the product has been thoroughly tested and evaluated we can see a supine and difficult area application.

R/r 911

 

[DV_EMT]

yeah, i was in the class with the instructor who made this. I'm actually impressed by the idea, but it looks a little bulky. maybe it would be practical for a CCU ambulance or for flight?

 

[djmedic913]

It looks beneficial. but again as was previous mentioned, how difficult will it be to apply to a supine patient with manual stabilization being held? I understand that in the vid the patients were standing without manual stabilization (I don't think stabilization in those cases would have made a difference). It looks like the application of the device will be easy enough for a standing take down or a patient still seated in a car.

Once it is released to market I would like to be able to play with it, abuse it (to see how it stands up) and try it out in every way I can think of and put it through it's paces.

It looks promising for patient care. but as we know it takes a lot by us to aggravate a cervical or spinal injury.

 

[FFEMS5217]

I guess I'm old school. Our ems service uses the xcollar alone. No lower spine support " backboard" nothing. Knowing what it just took to extract the individual out of the vehicle. Even after lumbar complaint it's xcollar and load n go. Maybe I'm just seeing patient care as the number one goal and not the meat that's going to make my next paycheck. Sorry if I offended anyone. Im gonna stick with full immobilization.

 

[RocKetamine]

I guess I'm old school. Our ems service uses the xcollar alone. No lower spine support " backboard" nothing. Knowing what it just took to extract the individual out of the vehicle. Even after lumbar complaint it's xcollar and load n go. Maybe I'm just seeing patient care as the number one goal and not the meat that's going to make my next paycheck. Sorry if I offended anyone. Im gonna stick with full immobilization.

There is no evidence that backboards provide any benefit to possible spinal fractures and in fact cause more damage that not using them. Backboards thankfully are becoming a thing of the past for "immobilization", slowly but surely.

 

[DesertMedic66]

I guess I'm old school. Our ems service uses the xcollar alone. No lower spine support " backboard" nothing. Knowing what it just took to extract the individual out of the vehicle. Even after lumbar complaint it's xcollar and load n go. Maybe I'm just seeing patient care as the number one goal and not the meat that's going to make my next paycheck. Sorry if I offended anyone. Im gonna stick with full immobilization.

If you are seeing patient care as the number one goal then why do you strap a person with a naturally curved spine onto a flat hard board that has only been shown to cause harm and no benefit?