Aeromedical Modular Litter System
THE AIR FORCE LOOKS FOR A STATE-OF-THE-ART PATIENT TRANSPORT UNIT TO REPLACE THE CURRENT LITTER SYSTEM.
The current patient litter is a canvas sheet 22 by 72 inches secured on poles. It is too narrow for many patients and cumbersome when loaded with critical patients plus medical equipment. Treatment items, supplies and a vast array of medical equipment are haphazardly mounted to or around the litter or at locations scattered around the aircraft.
The litter, as a platform, does not succinctly accommodate the large quantities of medical equipment such as ventilators, defibrillators, monitors, IV Pumps and suction devices. Separate pieces dangle in the aisles each with their plasma screens pointing in different directions. Each has a separate battery. Lighting is deficient, the patient microclimate temperature control is substandard and the background noise is prohibitive for voice communications. Urine and biological secretions are collected in bags hanging by hook off the litter creating clutter and spill hazards.
Mounting the current litters in military transport aircraft requires first a skeleton of stanchions, power lines, oxygen lines, and emergency oxygen masks to be installed. This preconfiguration consumes precious manpower and time. Patient loading cannot begin until this stage is complete.
Ground transport is also awkward. Each of the numerous pieces of equipment has to be powered in this phase by their own battery packs which results in a heavy, bulky and awkward configuration. Medical oxygen must be provided by separate, heavy carry-along tanks. The litter loaded with the patient and equipment often weighs over 300 pounds.
The canvas litter, as the basic platform for aeromedical patient transport, arose pre-WWII, and all innovations since then, including incorporation of modern medical equipment and upgrade to modern aircraft, have been crudely adapted to this platform.
A systems engineering approach is required to develop an integrated self-contained patient transport unit (PTU) with a focus on human systems integration and greatly reduced logistics footprint. As such, the Air Force has issued a small business innovative research effort to develop a new PTU.
The numerous pieces of medical equipment should be merged and bundled into a minimal number of composite devices that are integrated as part of the PTU, which would provide power to all from a single battery and from a single external power supply. The multiple plasma screens for each piece of equipment should be condensed to one user-friendly multi-function display screen, integrated into the PTU, that would allow the caretakers to quickly and easily access any of the patient information. The medical equipment should ultimately have the ability to record and telemeter the patient information throughout the patient’s journey from the battlefield to stateside, and be integrated into the TRANSCOM Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System (TRAC2ES).
A PTU should be lightweight, durable, lockable to the aircraft bed and more airworthy than current systems. It must also accommodate large and heavy patients and contain ergonomic features for efficient moving and improved comfort. To eliminate other issues, it has to be compatible with use in field facilities, ground transport vehicles, staging facilities and receiving facilities so that the patient can stay on the same device all the way through the patient movement system. The PTU should have special compartments for supplies and treatment items.
The unit also should have collection chambers for biological fluids, provisions for microclimate control and provisions for avoidance of skin pressure ulcers.
The modularity of the PTU will result in supporting the full range of patient complexity from very simple to very critical. Each unit should be stand-alone structurally such that no preconfiguration of the aircraft bay is required to permit rapid loading and unloading from aircraft and ground vehicles. It should be rigid to allow mounting of devices such as video cameras for telemedicine and hoods for infectious disease control.
Each PTU should also be able to be easily integrated into a stable cluster of units for stacking and interlocking to the one below and those to the side allowing erection of structures with patients stacked up to three high. Each cluster would provide the ability to network and share power, oxygen and communications systems from a common source independent of the aircraft. The clusters should also enable the ability for a remote monitoring station for the entire cluster. This standalone, stackable, interlocking nature will permit use additional type of military and civil aircraft. ♦