Our Story
Our Spark
Our team member Allison Aymond's brother David is an EMS professional. After hearing countless stories about David's work, Allison noticed a common thread between them... no matter the injury or reason, every ambulance ride ends with one thing in common - a patient transfer off of the ambulance stretcher and onto the hospital bed. Further, David and his colleagues always seemed to mention the following three issues:
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Colleagues with back pains
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Time consuming
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Labor intensive
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That's where Four Kidz And a Dream comes in! Suited to address these issues, Allison strategically approached three of her fellow biomedical engineering peers to take a deeper look into her brother's complaints.
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What We Learned
David's complaints were not just anecdotal... this is a massive problem!
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25 % of all EMS workers experience career ending back injuries within first 4 years of their career
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62 % of these back injuries result from lifting patients
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Sliding patient from a stretcher onto bed is one of the most dangerous lifts, causes 700-1000 lbs of compressive forces at L4/L5
Industry Adopted Transfer Methods
Particularly for the transfer for heavier patients, these methods require substantial time, effort and/or personnel which has shown to be costly for all involved.