Wilderness stretcher

[peternap]

Last night with Coleman, made me think of a problem I wasn't concerned with before.
He weighed 100 pounds and I could not carry him to the car without gripping him so tightly, it hurt him. My wife and I had to put him on a blanket and each took an end to carry him.

Here's the problem. Our farm has two dirt roads to get to the house site. The first can be driven on with a car (If it's dry) but the second (about a mile long) is hilly and still being constructed. I could get a 4 wheel drive up it but the bridge is still the wild card. We use ATV's to get there now.

I do have a trailer for the ATV's so I could take someone out to the car, but, how do I get them to the trailer. I'm concerned that if something happened to my wife, I couldn't get her out. Time is important as the nearest Hospital in in the next county and the locals say it's OK if you have nothing more serious than a cut or sprain. Otherwise, it's Richmond and that's 70 or 80 miles.

Does anyone know of a wilderness stretcher that would work?

[Redoverfarm]

Peter I have seen the bicycle tired deer caddys which with a little bit of alteration it might work.  They could be drawn by hand or a 4 wheeler.

[peternap]

That's not a bad idea John. When I was on Ski Patrol, we used a sled type arrangment and I was thinking of something like that. The deer caddy might work a lot better for this situation though.

[MountainDon]

Good thought, Peter (thinking of the potential problem).

I've never seen a wheeled rescue litter... only the aluminum tube baskets with a bazillion handles.

[glenn kangiser]

Probably not what you had in mind,



from here

They Call Me Trinity

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8081759401219338216&hl=en

[MountainDon]

 

I had thought of one of those fat tired, two wheeled wheelbarrows with a couple planks lashed on top..... 

[glenn kangiser]

Sorry - I disappeared.  Sassy and I had to watch the whole movie.  It's an all time classic and is all there on full screen Google video.

[Sassy]

   the movie was pretty stupid    but entertaining in spite of it...  just a little mindless entertainment for once 

Working in the ER, we are always having a family member ask us to go out to get their loved one out of a car - I often wonder how they got them in there in the 1st place...  sometimes they ask neighbors, I guess, or have other family members help but who don't go to the ER with them.  Usually it's a little old wife bringing in her big, debilitated husband...  I wonder how they take care of them at home...  most don't qualify for in-home services unless they let the gov't take away everything they've earned throughout their lives.    Now, if you've never accumulated anything, you will qualify for all kinds of services for free    It usually takes a couple of us to get them out of the car - thankfully, there are more men in nursing now (we don't have orderlies) & they are usually the ones who go get the patients out, but it can be very difficult...  that's probably the most likely situation that a person will be injured due to lifting from an awkward position...  I'd just have to get a blanket under DH & drag him into the car, I guess 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

My paternal grandfather was 6' 6" (at least) and my grandma is just around 5'6" or 7"  and average build.  Grandpa passed out on her one time. They lived way out of town and didn't have a phone line (they did have CBs, though.)   The nearest neighbor was a mile or so away.  Grandma looped her arms under Grandpa's and dragged him to the truck (on two artificial knees at that).  How she got him into that big Ford truck is beyond me... I guess just desperation.  His arteries in his neck were really clogged and had caused him to pass out.  I'm still amazed that she could get that much dead weight (he was big and barrel-chested in addition to being tall) into the truck on her own, although she's always been pretty active and healthy.  She got him to the hospital 30-40 miles away and they patched him up.