RESUSCITATION SUPPORT

The invention relates to a support for supporting a patient who has stopped breathing, during a resuscitation procedure.

It is important for artificial resuscitation that the head of the patient is supported relative to the body such that the trachea or air pipe remains open at all times so that the position of the head does not cause the air pipe to be blocked off.

Known techniques for avoiding this problem include lying the patient on his back, tilting the head backwards and sometimes placing a cushion or pillow or other soft support under his neck before commencing the resuscitation procedure. Skilled medical personnel often find it difficult to ensure that the head is maintained in the correct position as, for example, a soft pillow can easily collapse, especially under the high pressures which need to be applied to the patient's sternum. These problems are even more acute for the amateur first aider. Rigid supports to hold the patient's head in the correct position are known from, e.g. US-A-3870038 and US-A-3804082. However, the supports disclosed are large and bulky and are arranged to be placed in a position from the side of the patient, or the patient may be lifted on to the support. It can be difficult for, e.g. a small person to place a large person on such a support, with the result that valuable time might be wasted.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a resuscitation, support for use in supporting a patient in a horizontal disposition, the support comprising a head receiving portion and a back supporting portion characterised in that the head receiving portion includes handle means by which the support may be pushed underneath the patient from a position horizontally beyond the head of the patient by a user and in that the back supporting portion is shaped to pass under the head and underlie the back of the patient.

Preferably the support is of limited area and has a longitudinal dimension not substantially exceeding the distance between the neck and sternum of an average adult, and a transverse dimension not substantially exceeding the distance between the shoulder blades of an average adult. The handle means is preferably located adjacent the head receiving portion such that the device may be readily moved relative to the patient even when the head is received in the head receiving means.

Preferably a transverse upstanding wall is present at one end of the support and defines the handle means and is shaped to limit the extent to which the device can be pushed underneath the patient.

Because the support is of limited size, it can easily be placed underneath even a heavy patient from a position horizontally beyond the patient. The head can easily and quickly be moved into the optimum position in the head receiving portion even when the patient is on the support by grasping the transverse upstanding wall of the support and moving that as required. In order that the invention may be better understood, it will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view from above of a support of the invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the support of Figure 1 beneath a patient with a portion of the support shown in dotted outline; and

Figure 3 shows a plan view from above of the patient of Figure 2.

A resuscitation support 1 is integrally moulded in one piece from a plastics material. The support includes a back supporting portion comprising a ramp 2 which is inclined upwardly from the front end 3 of the support 1 towards a downwardly inclined

transverse wall portion 4, which is located at approximately the longitudinal centre point of the support. The back supporting portion 2 has a longitudinal dimension selected, so that, in use it will extend between the neck and sternum of an average adult, as best shown in Figure 2. The ramp 2 tapers outwardly from the front end 3 so that the sides 6 diverge from the front end 3 towards the transverse wall 4. The top 5 of the ramp portion 2 is dished in transverse section, so as to provide in use lateral support to the neck of the patient. The back supporting portion has an overall transverse dimension selected such that the ramp portion 2 will extend in use substantially between the shoulder blades of an average adult, as best shown in Figure 3.

The head receiving portion comprises a flat floor portion 7 located rearwardly of the transverse wall 4. A transverse upstanding wall 8 extends from the floor 7 at the rearward end of the support and serves as a handle means for positioning the support 1 underneath the patient. Low upstanding sidewalls 9 extend from the base of the transverse wall 4 to the rear wall 8, so that in plan the support 1 is lozenge shaped. The walls 9 are sufficiently high to locate the head of the patient but sufficiently low that the head can be turned without moving the support, e.g. to allow the patient to vomit. A peripheral flange 10 extends outwardly about the bottom of the support 1.

In a preferred embodiment, the support weighs about 510 g s and has an overall length of about 66 cm. The rear wall 8 and the middle wall 4 have an overall height of about 10 cm. The width of the bottom of the support adjacent the base of the middle wall 4 is about 25 cm and adjacent the top 5 is about 16 cm. The distance between the front 3 of the support and the base of the wall 4 is about 36 cm and the width of the front 3 is about 16 cm and the width at the rear end about 15 cm.

In use, a person who has stopped breathing is lain on his back. The user grasps the support 1 at the rear wall 8 and thrusts the forward end 3 of the support underneath the patients head from a position horizontally beyond the head. The ramp 2 is urged underneath the back of the patient until the head is received within the head receiving portion 7,8,9 and the neck is disposed centrally above the top 5 of the middle wall 4 with the shoulders and arms hanging over the sides of the support as best shown in Figure 2 . The diverging sides 6 may aid in guiding the support beneath the patient. The rear wall 8 enables the user to position the support (1) accurately underneath the patient, even when the head is adjacent the wall 8, and also prevents the support from being pushed too far beneath the patient's body or moving longitudinally relative to the body during the resuscitation procedure. The head may be turned to one side and

supported by the sidewalls of the floor 7, e.g. to prevent vomit from asphyxiating the patient.

The resuscitation procedure may then be performed. The use of the support 1 of the invention ensures that the patient ^s airways will not become blocked during that procedure. The lightweight and compact nature of a support according to the invention means that it may readily be carried by ambulance crews, police vehicles, used within hospitals and the like, or even kept within the home.