The art of recovering injured and incapacitated people has progressed a lot since the early stretchers that comprised two poles and a canvas agency to bear casualties. Unfluctuating as recently as the Primeval World War the recovery of people relied upon this lucid but resultant tool.
Today they are still common enough throughout the world but proficient has also been a development of more mechanical and personalised stretchers, or litters, as sound as evacuation chairs that takings tally of climatic conditions or differing terrain. Some of the earlier adaptions included horse stressed stretchers or ones that were mounted on wheeled carts, identical uniform to modern gurneys. These enabled casualities to be extracted from unstable situations at speed and required less people to manouver them.
During the battles of the First World War the French developed the Nimier stretcher that placed the patient in a seated position ( similar to an evac chair ), being a lot shorter it was easier to carry through the narrow confines of the trenches.
Research and development into the safest and secure methods for moving casualties has led to the design of many different evacuation chairs and rescue stretchers to suit the circumstances. Spinal boards are a popular inclusion where there is a likelihood of back injuries, these often include a neck brace to keep the spine immobalised and so minimise further damage.
Durable one piece disaster stretchers are another design made to face the rigours of patient recovery but whilst not foldable they can be stacked when stored. The stretcher has also been adapted so it can be mounted on a variety of transports, skis for snowy conditions, stretchers that incorporate floats for use in water. They can also be attached to All Terrain Vehicles, snowmobiles or buggie type cars.
Also when it is necessary to extract a person from a mountainous terrain, they can be pulled on ropes or attached to a helicopters winch. If an injured person has to be manually carried through mountains the stretcher can be fitted with special covers that protect the causality from falling rocks and boulders.
Scoop or Clamshell stretchers are the ones commonly found on sports fields where unconscious sports people or players with suspected back injuries are gently placed into the supporting frame for safe movement from the pitch and then onto a more suitable spine board for transport to hospital. Its split, section design makes it easy to put beneath a person and can be secured without the need for extensive and possibly dangerous movement of the patient.
Modern stretchers and evac chairs have seen massive developments over the last 100 years and nowadays there is a great selection for every climatic condition or circumstance. Medical research and design have ensured that casualties can be removed with the greatest of care and utmost support possible.
