Photo: Bezav Mahmod/Försvarsmakten, 2016
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A group of soldiers advances with their platoon. They are on their way towards a hill in the distance. They move across a field with groves of trees. The group walks in column, at the front of the platoon.
Suddenly there are loud bangs, several of them.
The whole group takes up firing positions, those who can take cover in a ditch, the fire is returned, there is a violent clatter among the trees, the soldiers try to shout to each other over the loud banging.
Just a few seconds after the first shots, someone is heard shouting, INJURED!
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Evacuation stretcher for military personnel
Tactical care or combat medicine, is a specialized field of medicine that focuses on providing medical care in high-stress and high-risk situations, such as combat zones or emergency response scenarios. In these situations, time is of the essence, and the ability to provide rapid medical care is critical.
One vital component of tactical care is the ability to quickly evacuate injured personnel from the area of danger, to more qualified care. Quick evacuations can minimize the time between injury and medical treatment, reducing the risk of complications and improving the chances of survival.
Due to the growing threat of natural disasters, and even war, the need for efficient tactical care and rapid evacuation is more obvious and relevant than it has ever been before. This is sadly evident when looking at how current equipment is designed.
Project team members:
Carl Wingren Bergman
Axel Sabel
Johanna Beén
Karin Nilsson
Sofia Rosengren
This bachelor's thesis was carried out in collaboration with the design firm SNIGEL. Most user studies were carried out at the Armed Forces Center for Defense Medicine in Gothenburg.
Photos & video editing by Axel Sabel
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The current solution is known as the "green death" among soldiers
Soldiers take the initiative on their own to buy alternative gear because they don't trust the standard issue solution. User studies and observations reveal that the existing evacuation solutions (even the additional gear bought by the soldiers) are inadequate in terms of durability, speed, and ease of use. These are three crucial factors in a scenario like the one described earlier.
THE NEW SOLUTION
Through intense user studies, and by handling trade-offs regarding weight & durability, the new stretcher was developed.
The evacuation stretcher is easy to use in stressful situations, as it allows users to handle it with less care. It is lightweight, allowing a group of soldiers to always bring this potentially lifesaving piece of equipment with them. The stretcher is easy to deploy and allows a single soldier to move even a heavy comrade out of harms way quickly. The soldiers can rely on it lasting until subsequent trasport to a care facility can take place.
Video demonstration of the new evacuation stretcher during a simulation
(loud noise of simulated combat)
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Släpbåren Scenario tudelad_2.mp4
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