Design of a special vehicle for moving complex patients within healthcare facilities without human efforts

Abstract

Hospitals around the world are growing and acquiring new medical technologies to improve every medical practice, taking advantage of digital information and communication. However, patient transport has not evolved in the same way, as nurses and orderlies continue doing their tasks using physical force, with consequent muscle-skeletal disorders and back injuries, due to the repetitive efforts made during mobilization or lifting patients. In the case of complex patients (polytraumatized, obese, oncological, burned, etc), mobilization inside the hospital services involves the transfer of the patient from bed to a stretcher or vice versa, situation that requires the coordinated efforts of two or more people, depending on the patient size and condition, facing two critical hazards: staff injuries by inadequate efforts, and patient fall by accident during the transfer. In this article we describe the design and construction of a patient’s shuttle system with advanced features that automates the task of lifting patient and transferring him to a bed or surgical table. The device includes extended functionality as speed control for easy movement through the hospital corridors and other features that make the vehicle being the one of its kind, helping staff to avoid strain injuries and reducing the problem of absenteeism because of such injury, in accordance with updates of international laws on labor risks.