System for transporting a sick or injured person to a medical facility

• US 6,175,977 B1
• Filed: 05/11/1999
• Issued: 01/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Daimlerchrysler North America Corporation (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimlerchrysler North America Corporation (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Schumacher, Markus, Muin, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Grosz, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US09/309,904
• Time in Patent Office: 623 Days
• Field of Search: 565/8, 550/31, 550/71, 562/5, 562/6, 560/0, 296/20, 128/845, 128/846, 128/870, 248/349.1, 224/153, 224/584, 224/585, 312/209
• US Class Current: 5/626
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 1/04 Parts, details or accessories, e.g. head-, foot-, or like rests specially adapted for stretchers
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2210/30 for intensive care
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/00 Devices for influencing the respiratory system of patients by gas treatment, e.g. mouth-to-mouth respiration; Tracheal tubes stimulating the respiratory movement by mechanical, pneumatic or electrical means, iron lungs combined with gas breathing means A61H31/00

Abstract

A system for transporting an ill or injured patient includes a stretcher in combination with a plurality of medical care modules that respectively include medical devices such as an infusion pump, an oxygen supply device, a defibrillator, an EKG unit, or the like, and medical and first aid supplies such as bandages, splints, IV supplies, drugs, medical instruments, and the like. The stretcher includes a frame and a patient support surface, as well as module bays provided under the frame or a module carrier removably mounted on the frame. The several medical care modules each have the same dimensions and configuration so that they are modularly interchangeable to be received in any one of the module bays or on the module carrier. When the medical care modules are slidingly pushed into the module bays, electrical contacts are engaged to connect the modules with an electrical power supply and a data transfer bus, through the stretcher.

Claims

1. A system for continuously providing medical care to a patient who needs to be transported, said system comprising a portable module carrier that is for carrying a medical care module thereon and that comprises:

a support base body adapted to be removably mounted on a stretcher or a hospital bed;

a module mount platform connected to said support base body and adapted to have a medical care module removably mounted thereon; and

a carrying unit onto which said support base body is removably mounted to facilitate carrying of said module carrier by a person, wherein said carrying unit comprises a backpack member on which said support base body is removably mounted, and shoulder straps extending from said backpack member and adapted to be worn on the shoulders of a person who may carry said module carrier on the person'"'"'s back;

wherein said module carrier is so configured and arranged so that the medical care module remains accessible and functional for use while said module carrier is being carried on the person'"'"'s back.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said portable module carrier further comprises a carrying handle connected to said support base body to facilitate carrying of said module carrier by hand by a person.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said support base body has at least one space therein, and further comprising an oxygen supply device and an oxygen mask received in said at least one space.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said module mount platform is rotatably connected to said support base body and is rotatable relative thereto.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said support base body has a mounting slot therein having a vertical slot height extending through a majority of a height of said support base body and a slot length extending entirely through a width of said support base body, and wherein said mounting slot is adapted to be removably mounted on a support bar of a frame of the stretcher or on a rail of the hospital bed.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said support base body includes a mounting channel and a movable clamp member clampingly cooperating with said channel.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a medical care module that is removably mounted on said module mount platform, and that comprises a standardized modular housing and at least one medical care accessory arranged in said housing.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said modular housing is so configured that it can be received in a module receiving bay provided in a stretcher.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein opposite side walls of said modular housing have grooves therein adapted to slidingly engage slide rails provided in a module receiving bay in a stretcher.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said modular housing further comprises electrical contacts provided in said grooves.

11. The system according to claim 7, further comprising a medical device storage cabinet that comprises a cabinet body with a plurality of module receiving bays adapted to respectively removably receive said medical care module therein.

12. The system according to claim 7, further comprising a stretcher comprising a frame and a patient support surface that is supported by said frame and that is adapted to support said patient thereon;

wherein said at least one medical care accessory is adapted to be used for a medical assessment, stabilization or treatment of said patient; and

wherein said support base body of said module carrier is adapted to be mounted on said frame of said stretcher at at least one of a head end and a foot end of said stretcher.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said medical care accessory is selected from the group consisting of an infusion pump, an oxygen supply device, a defibrillator, an electrocardiograph, an electroencephalograph, a fetal monitor, and a medical supply kit including at least one of a bandage, a compress, a splint, an antiseptic, an intravenous solution, a drug, a hypodermic syringe, and a medical sharp instrument.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein said frame of said stretcher includes at least one support bar, and said support base body of said module carrier is removably mountable on said support bar.

15. The system according to claim 12,

wherein said stretcher has at least one module receiving bay arranged in connection with said frame below said patient support surface;

and

wherein said module receiving bay and said medical care module are respectively configured so that said medical care module can be received and supported in said module receiving bay.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said medical care module is removable so that it can be selectively inserted into said module receiving bay and selectively removed from said module receiving bay.

17. The system according to claim 15, comprising a first plurality of said medical care modules respectively comprising different ones of said medical care accessories, wherein said standardized modular housing of each respective one of said medical care modules has a same first standardized configuration so that any one of said medical care modules can be selectively inserted into said module receiving bay.

18. The system according to claim 17, comprising a plurality of said stretchers, wherein any one of said medical care modules can be selectively inserted into said module receiving bay of any one of said stretchers.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said stretcher includes a plurality of said module receiving bays arranged side-by-side adjacent one another along a lengthwise axis of said stretcher, and wherein each one of said bays respectively has an opening along a first long side of said stretcher through which a respective one of said medical care modules can be inserted into and removed from said respective bay.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein each one of said bays further respectively has a second opening through which a respective one of said medical care modules can be inserted into and removed from said respective bay along a second long side of said stretcher opposite said first long side.

21. The system according to claim 19, wherein said first standardized configuration is a full-size module configuration having a standard module width that substantially corresponds to a bay width of said module receiving bays along said lengthwise axis of said stretcher, and having a full-size depth perpendicular to said module width that substantially corresponds to a stretcher width of said stretcher perpendicular to said lengthwise axis.

22. The system according to claim 21, further comprising a second plurality of said medical care modules, wherein said standardized modular housing of each respective one of said modules of said second plurality has a same second standardized configuration, which is a half-size configuration with a width corresponding to said standard module width and a depth corresponding to no more than half of said full-size depth.

23. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a battery pack module including a respective one of said standardized module housings, and a battery arranged in said housing, as well as electrical contacts adapted to connect said battery pack module to at least one of said medical care modules.

24. The system according to claim 15, wherein said module receiving bay comprises support rails that are connected to said frame and that are spaced apart from each other with a space therebetween for receiving said medical care module in said space supported on said support rails.

25. The system according to claim 24, further comprising first electrical contacts provided on at least one of said support rails, and second electrical contacts arranged on said medical care module and adapted to respectively establish electrical connections with said first electrical contacts when said medical care module is received in said module receiving bay.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein said first electrical contacts include first power supply contacts and first data transmission contacts, and said second electrical contacts comprise second power supply contacts and second data transmission contacts.

27. The system according to claim 25, further comprising a monitor display mechanically connected to said frame of said stretcher and electrically connected to said medical care module via said first and second electrical contacts.

28. The system according to claim 27, further comprising an input panel combined with said monitor display.

29. The system according to claim 27, further comprising a monitor storage bay incorporated in said stretcher, wherein said monitor is tiltably and slidably arranged relative to said frame of said stretcher so as to be selectively deployable from and storable in said monitor storage bay.

30. The system according to claim 7, comprising a plurality of said medical care modules that are each adapted to be removably connected directly to another one of said medical care modules.