TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to trauma treatment and collection and preservation of information concerning trauma treatment, and particularly to recordkeeping regarding initial field treatment of injuries such as military field casualties or civilian mass casualties.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Transfer of casualties from a prehospital setting, particularly on a battlefield or resulting from a civilian tragedy such as a large highway collision or train wreck, to a more capable and comprehensive care center is often chaotic. It is important that information about field treatments performed by first responders be recorded, so that the emergency physicians receiving these patients at another site can effectively conduct triage and treat the patients. Currently the U.S. military services use a combat casualty card such as the one illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings to record this information.

[0003] Such a combat casualty card is typically made of paper, laminated with plastic, and is attached to the patient via a lanyard composed of string, wire, rubber band, or the like. The first responder will fill out the information at the location where first aid is provided, and the patient will be transported to the site where the next level of care is available.

[0004] Unfortunately, especially in a battlefield, only a low percentage of casualties that arrive where the next level of care is available have these casualty/information cards still attached. This is for a variety of reasons. If the card is tied to clothes, the clothes may have be removed and discarded before the emergency physician or surgeon can see the patient. Or, the card might fall off or be ripped off the clothes at some point. Likewise, attachment of the card's string or other lanyard to the patient is not robust, and the cards may simply be lost in transit. Additionally, a card may not have been filled out in the first place, because of the chaos where a casualty occurred, or simply because of inconvenience, or a shortage of available casualty information cards. Attachment of a card to the patient may also be difficult due to the loss of limbs or appendages via traumatic amputation.

[0005] What is desired, then, is an improved casualty recording device that is not likely to become separated from an injured person before arrival at a site where additional medical care is available, so that valuable information recorded on the device can be used there to improve the efficiency of care given to a patient.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0006] As defined by the claims forming a part of this disclosure, the present invention provides a casualty information record sheet that is adhesive backed so as to increase the incidence of successful transfer of patient condition and emergency treatment information to a facility where the next level of care may be available. An adhesive-backed casualty card that is one embodiment of the invention could be placed on the patient's skin or clothing. If the skin or clothing is not conducive to adhesive attachment, the card could still be attached to the patient by the traditional lanyard type system.

[0007] In one embodiment of the invention disclosed herein the card, due to its adhesive and occlusive nature may also be used as a wound seal for chest trauma, lacerations, eviscerations, and other wounds commonly encountered in the prehospital setting, in accordance with a method disclosed herein. This provides the possibility of a multifunctional device that is easy to use and that stays with a patient during transport from a first aid site to an emergency medical care facility of greater capability.

[0008] The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a depiction of a front side of a prior art combat casualty card used by U.S. military services.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a depiction of the reverse side of the combat casualty card shown in FIG. 1.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a view of the front side of a patient casualty and triage information device according to the present disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a view of the reverse side of the patient information device shown in FIG. 3.

[0013] FIG. 5 is a foreshortened, sectional view, exaggerated in scale in a thickness direction, of the device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

[0014] FIG. 6 is an exploded isometric view of the device shown in FIGS. 3-5.

[0015] FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing an alternative embodiment of the device.

[0016] FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing another alternative embodiment of the device.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0017] Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the front and reverse of a typical combat casualty card 10 such as those used by the United States military services as mentioned above.

[0018] FIGS. 3 and 4 show, respectively, the front and reverse of a casualty information and triage record card device 12 which is a first embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, and which will be referred to herein at times as an information card 12, for the sake of brevity.

[0019] The information card 12 has imprinted on it nearly the same form as in the combat casualty card 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, providing symbols and spaces for recording wound and treatment information with the equivalents of the front and reverse of the combat casualty card 10 arrayed side by side and legible on the front face 14 of the information card 12. The front face 14 is a writing surface that may be written upon by a first responder using a pen or similar writing implement. The information card 12 is adhesive-backed and has a release liner, as will be explained in greater detail below, and also has a handle or tag 16, to which a loop of string 18, or other attachment device might be attached.

[0020] Referring also to FIGS. 5 and 6, the device 12 is constructed of flexible polymeric plastics films interconnected with each other by layers of adhesive material. In particular, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the front face 14 is the outer surface of a top layer 20, which may be of transparent polyurethane film or another flexible polymeric plastic on which printing can be accomplished practically, and on whose underside may be an imprinted layer 22 of ink forming the information requesting form visible on the front face 14. The top layer 20 may have a thickness 21 in the range of 0.001 - 0.005 inch and in one embodiment its thickness 21 is 0.002 inch. A layer 24 of an adhesive covers the lower surface of the top layer 20 and adhesively attaches a second layer 26 of a flexible polymeric plastics film, which may be, for example, polyethylene or another flexible polymeric plastic, and which protects the imprint 22 of ink on the bottom of the top layer 20 from most hazards or materials, such as alcohol or other solvents which might be used in connection with initial cleaning of a wound. The second layer 26 may also have a thickness 27 in the range of 0.001 - 0.005 inch, and about 0.002 inch in one embodiment. In one embodiment of the device 12 the upper layer 20 might be transparent in order to facilitate clearly seeing the information request form, while the lower layer 26 might be opaque or semi-opaque, with a definite color that contrasts with the color of the ink of the information request form and the color of the ink of a pen likely to be available to a caregiver using the device 12. Another thin layer 28 of an adhesive material such as an acrylic adhesive or a rubber-based adhesive may be present on the underside of the second layer 26. The adhesive layer 28 is used to attach the handle or tag portion 16 to the plastic film structure bearing the imprint layer 22 of the information-requesting form.

[0021] The exposed outer surface of the top layer 20 is thus made available as a writing surface on which a first responder caregiver can record the available critical information regarding a patient's condition and any treatments that have been given or withheld. The writing surface of such polymer plastics material can usually accept ordinary ball point pen ink, "Sharpie" ink, or alcohol based inks such a felt tip pen inks, among others.

[0022] A layer 30 of an adhesive material intended to attach the device, and thus recorded medical care information, securely to a person's clothing or skin, overlies the layer 28 of adhesive.

[0023] The adhesive 30 is preferably moisture absorbent, to facilitate adhesion to wet, sweaty, or bloody skin or clothing. For example, the adhesive material 30 may be a hydrogel adhesive or a hydrocolloid adhesive. Such moisture absorbent adhesive may be provided in a layer 30 significantly greater in thickness than the layer 28, with a thickness 32 which may be, for example, 0.032 inch, for certain adhesives. Alternatively, the adhesive material 30 may be acrylic, rubber-based, silicone-based or another adhesive for which the thickness 32 could be less. Although they are not as desirable, due to low moisture uptake, such other adhesives could be used in situations where dry skin and clothes are expected. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3-6, the device 12 has the hydrogel adhesive 30 in a central portion of the bottom face of the layer 26 to aid in adhesion to a wet or moist surface, while the acrylic/rubber based adhesive layer 28 may be left exposed around the adhesive layer 30, where it can aid in adhesion to a dry surface.

[0024] The layer of adhesive material 30 may extend and overlap slightly along an inner margin of the handle 16, and a liner tab, or separator cover strip 36 may be provided to cover and adhere to that portion of the layer 30 of adhesive material.

[0025] A release liner sheet 34 overlies and is held removably by the layer 30 of adhesive material and extends beyond it to the edges of the layers 20 and 26 of flexible film, so that a narrow peripheral strip 38 of the release liner sheet 34 is adhered to the second layer 26 of flexible film by the portion of the adhesive layer 28 located along the top and bottom and the left end of the information card 12, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The narrow peripheral strip 38 may have a width 39 of, for example, 0.25 inch, depending on the viscosity of the adhesive material of the layer 30, in order to resist any tendency of the adhesive material 30 to ooze out between the lower layer 26 of polymeric film and the release liner sheet 34, which might make it likely that the device will stick to the inside of a package in which it is contained prior to use. Where the adhesive of the layer 30 is not likely to ooze the peripheral strip 38 could be omitted.

[0026] The release liner sheet 34 may be of a synthetic polymeric plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with a thickness of 0.002-0.005 inch, which is somewhat stiffer than the polyurethane or polyethylene or other flexible and elastic plastics preferred for the top layer 20 and second layer 26. The release liner sheet 34 can thereby stiffen and provide some support for the remainder of the device 12 and resist undesirable wrinkling and self adhesion in the layer 30 of adhesive material prior to use of the device 12, that might impede its use as a wound dressing or make it more difficult to write on the front face 14. The release liner sheet 34 can be opaque or have an opaque coating to provide visual contrast to the ink layer 22 while a first responder writes on the writing surface 14.

[0027] A portion 40 of the release liner sheet 34 lies over the liner tab 36 and parallel with the handle or tag portion 16 but is free from adhesive attachment thereto so that the outer margin 41 of the release liner sheet 34 can easily be grasped and pulled back to peel the release liner sheet 34 away from the layer 30 of adhesive and any surrounding peripheral strip 38 of the adhesive layer 28, as suggested by the arrow 42 in FIG. 5.

[0028] Where the adhesive material 30 is a rubber-based adhesive, or acrylic-based, or is of some types of hydrocolloids, the release liner sheet 34 could be of a silicone coated paper release material. [0029] Once the release liner sheet 34 has been removed the device can be carried by the handle 16 as it is placed where desired on a patient, without adhering to the first responder's hands as the device 12 is placed on a person.

[0030] The performance of the adhesive material 30 in attaching the device to a person's skin may be enhanced by the elasticity of the dressing format. If the backing, that is, the top and second layers 20 and 26, is an elastic material such as polyurethane, a person's movements will be less likely to cause the device 12 to come apart from the person's skin or from a dressing on the person's skin being protectively covered by the device 12. Other backing materials on which the information requesting form may be imprinted preferably also have elasticity, but the film layers 20 and 26 could be of a flexible film that is inelastic, as well.

[0031] The lanyard 18 may be attached to the device 12 via a punch hole in the card itself or on the handle 16 extending from the card, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, or a suitable fastening device may be adhered in some other fashion. The lanyard 18 may be of any material, such as string, rubber, wire or the like.

[0032] The device 12 may be transparent to allow for observation of the skin to which the device 12 is adhered or a wound covered by the applied device 12, through the layers carrying the information requesting form. The device 12 may instead be opaque or have a degree of opacity to provide some contrast and thus facilitate reading information recorded on the device 12 when it is in place on various colors of backgrounds, including persons of various skin colors. The handle or tag 16 may be of a strong flexible plastic film and may be opaque or translucent and of bright, easily recognizable colors, in order to convey a patient's status, or simply to facilitate visualization and identification of the card 12 by caregivers attending to the person where the next level of care is available. Alternatively, it may have dark colors, such as black, to aid in low light or night visualization.

[0033] In a second embodiment 44 of the disclosed device, as shown in FIG. 7, the imprint 22 of the information requesting form may be applied on the upper face of the second layer 26 of polyethylene or other thin flexible plastics material, so that the top layer 20 of polyurethane, attached by the layer 24 of adhesive material, protects the ink 22 of the imprinted form.

[0034] A third alternative embodiment 46 of the device, as shown in FIG. 8, includes a top layer 20 on whose lower or bottom face the ink imprint 22 of the information requesting form may be applied, so that the flexible film of the layer 20 itself protects the imprinted form from abrasion or solvents on the outside of the device 44. Alternatively, the imprint 22 of the form could be on the top surface of the top layer 20, if ink is used that is suitably resistant to abrasion or solvents when used on the material of the layer 20. A layer 28 of adhesive material, such as used in the device 12 covers and protects the layer 22 of ink of the imprinted form if it is on the underside of the top layer 20, and the handle 16, layer 30 of adhesive material, liner tab 36, and release liner sheet 34 are applied and retained by the adhesive layer 28 as described above with respect to the device 12 shown in FIGS. 3-6.

[0035] The adhesive-backed information card 12, 44, or 46 is occlusive, so it may be used also as a dressing to cover a wound contact material or it may be used as a wound contact and sealing dressing itself. Wounds for which use of the device 12, 44 or 46 would be appropriate include but are not limited to open chest wounds, lacerations, bleeding wounds, eviscerations, and others.

[0036] The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.