GB2123295A

GB2123295A - First aid apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2123295A
Application number: GB08218593A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Linda Cathrine Brown
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-06-26
Filing date: 1982-06-26
Publication date: 1984-02-01
Also published as: GB2123295B

Abstract

A support 1 or surgical dressing may be used in combination with other similar supports to make up a field kit. The support 1 comprises a woven fabric backing 2 of two layers which are stitched together along top edge 3 and outermost edges 4 of the ends. Strips of 'Velcro' material 5, 6 are provided on opposing sides of the backing 2 at opposite ends thereof. The ends of the support 1 may be used with a splint to support, for example, a broken limb with said ends being overlapped and held together substantially simultaneously. The support 1 may be provided with glow material and may have a sponge insert or the like to provide a cervical collar. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION First aid apparatus This invention relates to first aid apparatus and more particularly to a support, for example, a, splint-wrap, cervical collar or other surgical dressing and also to a package or kit of such supports.

In the event of an accident or injury to a person in which a surgical dressing is required it is a continual problem to apply the dressing, securely, quickly, easily and without causing the injured person unnecessary distress or pain. In particular, splint-wraps may require a certain amount of manual dexterity to apply (particulary those with interlocking strap fasteners) and cause unnecessary movement of the broken or fractured limb during application. It can be very difficult applying a surgical dressing to an animal.

It is an object of the present invention to alleviate the aforementioned problem.

According to the present invention there is provided first aid apparatus comprising an elongated support having two ends provided with substantially instantaneous surface-contact fastening means as herein defined such that said two ends are adapted to be fastened together substantially instantaneously as the ends are overlapped and the surfacecontact fastening means are brought into surface contact with each other, said surface-contact fastening means having a length along the support, and width dimension relative to the support, to enable the ends to be overlapped and instantaneously held together by the surface-contact fastening means and to hold the ends together against a force directed along the length of the support pulling the ends apart of upto at least 501b force (222N), said support further being of such shape and dimensions to obviate a tourniquet effect when wrapped on the human or animal body.

Surface-contact fastening means is herein defined as any means having mutually cooperable surface portions which may be overlapped and pressed together under hand pressure to provide a surfacecontact engagement fastening, an example of such means is a material of a type marketed under the name "Velcro". Preferably, such surface-contact fastening means enables the ends of the support to be readily releasable from one another, for example, by "peeling" one end from the other as is well known per se with "Velcro" material. This could obviate any nuisance caused by later having to cut the support from an injured person or animal and may allow the supportto be re-usable in certain instances, although the support may need to be cleaned.

The first aid apparatus may be provided with any of the following preferred features either alone or in combination with one another where appropriate: (a) the support is at least two feet long (61.0 cm.); (b) the surface-contact fastening means is provided on opposite sides of the support; (c) the surface-contact fastening means extends along each end of the support so that the ends are capable of being overlapped and held together with the common length of surface-contact fastening means along the support representing at least 20% of the total length of the support before the ends are overlapped; (d) the common length of overlap in (c) is in a range up to 30% of the total length of the support before the ends are overlapped; (e) the lengths of surface-contactfixing means at each end of the support are substantially equal;; (f) the lengths of surface-contact fixing means extend substantially to the outermost edges of the ends of the support; (g) the width of the support at the ends is about three or four inches (7.6 to 10.2cm); (h) the ratio of the width of the surface-contact fastening means to the width of the support at the ends is 3:10 and, preferably, 5::10; (i) the width of the support is substantially uniform along its length; (j) the elongated support comprises three pieces only, namely a backing strip and two pieces of material constituting the surface-contact fastening means; (k) the elongated support has spaced strips of material constituting the surface-contact fastening means at each end which are, preferably, spaced across the width of the support; (I) the support has a backing of substantially non-elastic material with a high tear strength, and the backing is, preferably, a fabric and this is, preferably, a woven fabric;; (m) the properties of the support remain substantially unaffected by widely varying climatic conditions and the support remains operative whether wet or dry, and, preferably, does not contract or expand in such conditions to an appreciable extent (such on appreciable extent will only be a few percent of the original size, possibly up to five percent); (n) the ends of the support are capable of being held together against a force directed along the length of the support pulling the ends apart by up to l00lbforce (445N); (o) the surface contact fastening means are attached to a backing of the support by stitching.

Alternately, said means may be bonded to the backing; (p) the support comprises a two layer backing and may include a sponge insert or the like to provide a cervical collar, and preferably the sponge is centrally located along the length of the support and may occupy about one third the total length; (q) the support is substantially flat; (r) the support is provided with glow material.

Such material may be sensitive during the day and/or at night. The glow material may be provided on one side only of the support; (s) the ends of the support are readily separable from one another by "peeling" one end from the other and releasing the surface-contact fastening means.

Features (a) to (s) either alone or in combination are advantageous in different applications which will become apparent from this specification. For exam ple, feature (r) may be useful at the scene of road accident, the support being used as a visibility sash to warn other road users. Where the support is used in conjunction with other such supports it may be laid on the ground as part of an air-visual distress signal such as an S.O.S. sign or 1-Doctor needed- or X - I can go no further. Preferably, the supports may be utilised in combination to spell out all, or a selected numberofthe universal airto ground signals.

Further according to the present invention there is provided first aid apparatus comprising a package or kit of individual elongated supports, a first one of the support being suitable for use as a cervical collar and including a substantially central elongated necksupport portion, which in use in the package or kit of supports provides a base on which the supports may be arranged in a rolled-up condition, the arrangement being such that individual supports on the neck-support portion may be enclosed by the first support being wrapped closely there around and the ends of the first support being overlapped and interengaged with each other, a particular one of the supports being selectably removable from the first support without disengaging the ends of the first support, and all the supports being provided with mutually interengaging ends so that they are capable of being linked together in end to end relationship to form a chain of supports, for example as a life-line, and any two ends of the supports being interengageable so as to withstand a force directed along the length of the attached ends pulling the ends apart by at least 501b force (222N).

The ends of the supports may be provided with surface-contact fastening means as herein defined and in tests, the supports, when provided with surface-contact fastening means in the form of "Velcro", have been sufficiently engaged in end to end relationship to enable a vehicle to be towed using the chain of supports (six or seven in number and each of length of two feet or more).

Preferably, the supports are at least seven in number and at least some of the supports are different in length to others of the supports thereby providing a range of supports utilisable in different applications or with a different size of patient.

An embodiment of first aid apparatus comprising a kit or package of supports, will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying simplified schematic drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an elongated support in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 shows the remainder of a kit or package of supports also in accordance with the present invention, and Figure 3 shows the supports in an assembled package.

Figure 1 shows an elongated, flat support 1 which may be used as a splint-wrap. The dimensions marked on the support 1 are shown as a particular example of advantageous proportions of the constituent parts of the support 1. It is also advantageous that the support is made from only three pieces 2, 5 and 6.

The support 1 comprises a woven fabric backing 2 of high tear strength and which is substantially non-elastic. The backing 2 is, preferably, a nylon polyester webbing similar to that used in car seat belts which does not shrink or stretch to any appreciable extent. The backing 2 has two layers which are stitched together along top edge 3 and outermost edges 4 of the ends of the support 1.

Surface-contact fastening means is provided in the form of a strip 5 of "Velcro" on one side of the backing 2 and at one end thereof and a strip 6 on a reverse side of the backing 2 at the other end thereof.

As is well known per sea first one of the strips 5 and 6 has a felt like appearance and the second has a multitude of tiny hooks to engage the first. Either strip 5 or 6 may have the hooks. The "Velcro" strips 5 and 6 are stitched to the backing around their peripheral edges but may, additionally or alternatively, be bonded to the backing.

In an alternative embodiment the ratio of the width of "Velcro" to the width of the backing is 3:4 rather than 1:2, to give a stronger engagement.

In an alternative embodiment there may be two "Velcro" strips at each end of the backing comprising spaced upper and lower parallel strips. In such a case "Velcro" material with the "hooks" may be provided only at one end or, alternatively at both ends on upper and lower strips respectively.

The ends of the support may be overlapped and held together substantially instantaneously merely by pressing the strips 5 and 6 of "Velcro" together.

Even if the axes of the strips 5 and 6 and the ends are not aligned a good hold between the ends can be obtained.

It is an important advantage of the embodiment as illustrated in Figure 1 that the alignment of the "Velcro" strips and therefore of the ends of the support 1 during overlap is not critical, and there is a very wide tolerance in the way and angle at which the strips 5 and 6 may be successfully engaged. This versatility is important in being able to utilise the support successfully as a surgical dressing in awkward, emergency, or panic situations and enables the support to be applied quickly by an inexperienced person (for example, a child) without causing unnecessary discomfort to the injured person or animal. The support may even be versatile enough to allow an injured person to apply it to himself entirely on his own, and without undue difficulty.

Where the support is used as a splint-wrap, for example for a broken limb, the support may be wrapped around a splint (possibley another good limb of the patient) and the ends wrapped over the broken limb to temporarily align the broken ends in a known manner (or at least restrict movement); the ends may then be held together substantially instantaneously by the "Velcro" strips being brought together. Alternatively, the broken arm may be strapped to the chest or to the neck with the support acting as a sling.

Most important is the force which the ends are able to resist before being pulled apart and in such emergency situations it is envisaged that for a secure surgical dressing the ends must withstand such a force of at least 501b along the direction of the support for safety reasons.

The support 1 may also be provided with day glow and/or night glow either to warn people of an accident or for any other sort of visual warning.

The support 1 may advantageously be part of a kit or package of other similar supports.

Figure 2 shows a number of such supports 7 to 10 which may be used with the support 1 to form a kit or package, and once again dimensions are marked on the supports 7 to 10 as an example of advantageous proportions of the supports 1,7 to 10 making up the kit. Preferably, in the kit or package there are one each of supports 1,9, and 10 and two each of supports 7 and 8.

Supports 7 to 9 are all of similar form to support 1 but varying size to provide a fairly comprehensive range of size to cater for most emergencies.

Support 10 is modified from the remainder since it is intended for use as a cervical collar. A piece of sponge 11 or other suitable material, for example, polystyrene is stitched into the backing 2 between the two layers thereof and is located centrally of the backing and is substantially of the same width. The "Velcro" strips 5 and 6 are shown overlapping the sponge 5 but in an alternative embodiment extend only to the edges of the sponge 5.

The sponge 5 provides a base on which the other supports 1,7 to 9 may be arranged in a rolled-up state, so that the ends of support 10 may be wrapped closely therearound, overlapped and held together by the "Velcro" strips 5 and 6 of support 10. This is shown in Figure 3 and it is believed that such an arrangement is neat and compact and conveniently a particular support of appropriate size may be selected from the wrapped package without releasing the ends of the support 10 from one another. The "Velcro" on the individual supports 1,7 to 9, may be used in some instances to aid the respective support to maintain a rolled-up condition.

The package or kit of supports may be slid into a bag of appropriate shape, and it is believed to be particularly convenient in the field for the package merely to be slid wholly or partially out of the bag and laid upon the ground with the axes of the rolled-up supports arranged generally vertically so that a support may be selected merely be movement along its "rolled-up" axis (without disengaging the ends of support 10) and the remainder of the package slid back into the bag without being disturbed, and ready for another support to be selected.

Any suitable number, or shape and size of supports may be provided in the package and room could be provided in the package for other surgical aids (bandages and the like), and any other suitable field equipment.

Advantageously, the kit or package of support is light and portable, and it is envisaged that such a package of supports will be useful to the armed forces and is particularly suited to field requirements.

Additionally, one or more of the supports may be utilised as a visual warning aid by being provided with day glow and/or night glow and could be arranged, for example, to attract aircraft by laying them out in the ground in a chosen sequence. Means could be provided to weight the supports down in such a situation, and the "Velcro" or other surface contact fastening means may be used to keep the supports in a particular configuration, either by engagement of the ends of the support and/or by engagement with a sheet arranged underneath the supports, for example a blanket.

It is envisaged that such a kit or package of supports will have many applications, and in particu lar the supports may be linked together in end to end fashion to provide a "lifeline". A life-line of approxi mately 18 feet (549cm.) can be made up if necessary, for example, to rescue a person in distress in a river or pond or even at sea.

Usually, the or each support will be about four inches (10.2 cm.) wide and this will obviate said tourniquet effect. In certain instances a width of 3 inches (7.6 cm.) may be enough to obviate said tourniquet effect.

CLAIMS (Filed on 13.6.83.) 1. First aid apparatus comprising an elongated support having two ends provided with substantially instantaneous surface-contact fastening means as herein defined such that said two ends are adapted to be fastened together substantially instantaneously as the ends are overlapped and the surfacecontact fastening means are brought into surface contact with each other, said surface-contact fastening means having a length along the support, and width dimension relative to the support, to enable the ends to be overlapped and instantaneously held together by the surface-contact fastening means and to hold the ends together against a force directed along the length of the support pulling the ends apart of up to at least 501b force (222N), said support further being of such shape and dimensions to obviate a tourniquet effect when wrapped on the human or animal body.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the surface-contact fastening means enables the ends of the support to be readily releasable from one another.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the support is at least two feet long (61.0 cm.).

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the surface-contact fastening means is provided on opposite sides of the support.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the surface-contact fastening means extends along each said end of the support so that said ends are capable of being overlapped and held together with the common length of surface-contact fastening means along the support representing at least 20% of the total length of the support before the ends are overlapped.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the common length of overlap is in a range up to 30% of the total length of the support before the ends are overlapped.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the lengths of surface contactfastening means at each end of the support

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. support for safety reasons. The support 1 may also be provided with day glow and/or night glow either to warn people of an accident or for any other sort of visual warning. The support 1 may advantageously be part of a kit or package of other similar supports. Figure 2 shows a number of such supports 7 to 10 which may be used with the support 1 to form a kit or package, and once again dimensions are marked on the supports 7 to 10 as an example of advantageous proportions of the supports 1,7 to 10 making up the kit. Preferably, in the kit or package there are one each of supports 1,9, and 10 and two each of supports 7 and 8. Supports 7 to 9 are all of similar form to support 1 but varying size to provide a fairly comprehensive range of size to cater for most emergencies. Support 10 is modified from the remainder since it is intended for use as a cervical collar. A piece of sponge 11 or other suitable material, for example, polystyrene is stitched into the backing 2 between the two layers thereof and is located centrally of the backing and is substantially of the same width. The "Velcro" strips 5 and 6 are shown overlapping the sponge 5 but in an alternative embodiment extend only to the edges of the sponge 5. The sponge 5 provides a base on which the other supports 1,7 to 9 may be arranged in a rolled-up state, so that the ends of support 10 may be wrapped closely therearound, overlapped and held together by the "Velcro" strips 5 and 6 of support 10. This is shown in Figure 3 and it is believed that such an arrangement is neat and compact and conveniently a particular support of appropriate size may be selected from the wrapped package without releasing the ends of the support 10 from one another. The "Velcro" on the individual supports 1,7 to 9, may be used in some instances to aid the respective support to maintain a rolled-up condition. The package or kit of supports may be slid into a bag of appropriate shape, and it is believed to be particularly convenient in the field for the package merely to be slid wholly or partially out of the bag and laid upon the ground with the axes of the rolled-up supports arranged generally vertically so that a support may be selected merely be movement along its "rolled-up" axis (without disengaging the ends of support 10) and the remainder of the package slid back into the bag without being disturbed, and ready for another support to be selected. Any suitable number, or shape and size of supports may be provided in the package and room could be provided in the package for other surgical aids (bandages and the like), and any other suitable field equipment. Advantageously, the kit or package of support is light and portable, and it is envisaged that such a package of supports will be useful to the armed forces and is particularly suited to field requirements. Additionally, one or more of the supports may be utilised as a visual warning aid by being provided with day glow and/or night glow and could be arranged, for example, to attract aircraft by laying them out in the ground in a chosen sequence. Means could be provided to weight the supports down in such a situation, and the "Velcro" or other surface contact fastening means may be used to keep the supports in a particular configuration, either by engagement of the ends of the support and/or by engagement with a sheet arranged underneath the supports, for example a blanket. It is envisaged that such a kit or package of supports will have many applications, and in particu lar the supports may be linked together in end to end fashion to provide a "lifeline". A life-line of approxi mately 18 feet (549cm.) can be made up if necessary, for example, to rescue a person in distress in a river or pond or even at sea. Usually, the or each support will be about four inches (10.2 cm.) wide and this will obviate said tourniquet effect. In certain instances a width of 3 inches (7.6 cm.) may be enough to obviate said tourniquet effect. CLAIMS (Filed on 13.6.83.)

1. First aid apparatus comprising an elongated support having two ends provided with substantially instantaneous surface-contact fastening means as herein defined such that said two ends are adapted to be fastened together substantially instantaneously as the ends are overlapped and the surfacecontact fastening means are brought into surface contact with each other, said surface-contact fastening means having a length along the support, and width dimension relative to the support, to enable the ends to be overlapped and instantaneously held together by the surface-contact fastening means and to hold the ends together against a force directed along the length of the support pulling the ends apart of up to at least 501b force (222N), said support further being of such shape and dimensions to obviate a tourniquet effect when wrapped on the human or animal body.

are substantially equal.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the lengths of surfacecontact fastening means extend substantially to the outermost edges of the ends of the support.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the width of the support at the ends is about three or four inches (7.6 to 10.2cm).

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the ratio of the width of the surface-contact fastening means to the width of the support at the ends is at least 3:10.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 in which the ratio of the width of surface-contact fastening means to the width of the support at the ends is 5:10.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the width of the support is substantially uniform along its length.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the elongated support comprises three pieces only, namely a backing and two pieces of material constituting the surfacecontact fastening means.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 in which the elongated support has spaced strips of material constituting the surface-contact fastening means at each said end.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 in which said strips are spaced across the width of the support.

16. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which a, or the, backing of the support is of substantially non-elastic material with a high tear strength.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16 in which the backing is a fabric.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 in which the fabric is woven.

19. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the properties of the support remain substantially unaffected by widely varying climatic conditions and the support remains operative whether wet or dry.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19 in which the support does not contract or expand in said conditions to an appreciable extent, as herein defined.

21. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the ends of the support are capable of being held together against a force directed along the length of the support pulling the ends apart by up to 1 001b force (445N).

22. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the surface contact fastening means are attached to a, or the, backing of the support by stitching or bonding.

23. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which a, or the, backing of the support is a two layer backing.

24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23 in which the support includes a sponge insert or the like to provide a cervical collar.

25. Apparatus as claimed in claim 24 in which the sponge is centrally located along the length of the support.

26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 28 in which the sponge occupies about one third the total length of the support.

27. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the support is substantial- ly flat.

28. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the support is provided with glow material sensitive during the day and/or night.

29. Apparatus as claimed in claim 28 in which the glow material is provided on one side only of the support.

30. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising one or more further, similar, elongated supports.

31. Apparatus as claimed in claim 30 in which the supports can be used in conjunction with one other and laid on the ground as part of an air-visual distress signal.

32. Apparatus as claimed in claim 31 in which the supports may be utilised in combination to spell out all, or a selected number of, the universal ground to air signals.

33. First aid apparatus comprising a package or kit of individual elongated supports, a first one of the supports being suitable for use as a cervical collar and including a substantially central elongated necksupport portion, which in use in the package or kit of supports provides a base on which the supports may be arranged in a rolled-up condition, the arrangement being such that individual supports on the neck-support portion may be enclosed by the first support being wrapped closely there around and the ends of the first support being overlapped and interengaged with each other, a particular one of the supports being selectably removable from the first support without disengaging the ends of the first support, and all the supports being provided with mutually interengaging ends so that they are capable of being linked together in end to end relationship to form a chain of supports, for example, as a life-line, and any two ends of the supports being interengageable so as to withstand a force directed along the length of the attached ends pulling the ends apart by at least 501b force (222N).

34. Apparatus as claimed in claim 33 in which the supports are at least seven in number and at least some of the supports are different in length to others of the suports thereby providing a range of supports utilisable in different applications orwith a different size of patient.

35. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including a bag.

36. First aid apparatus substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

37. First aid apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the support is substantially as herein described and substantially as shown in figure 1 or substantially as shown as in any of the embodiments of supports in figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

38. First aid apparatus comprising an elongated support having two ends provided with substantially instantaneous surface-contact fastening means as herein defined such that said two ends are adapted to be fastened together substantially instantaneously as the ends are overlapped and the surfacecontact fastening means are brought into surface contact with each other, said surface-contact fastening means having a length along the support, and width dimension relative to the support, to enable the ends to be overlapped and instantaneously held together by the surface-contact fastening means.

39. First aid apparatus comprising a package or kit of individual elongated supports, a first one of the supports being suitable for use as a cervical collar and including an elongated neck-support portion, which neck-support portion in the package or kit of supports provides a base on which the remaining supports may be arranged in a rolled-up condition, the arrangement being such that individual supports on the neck-support portion may be enclosed by the first support being wrapped closely there around and the ends of the first support being overlapped and interengaged with each other, a particular one of the supports being selectably removable from the first support without disengaging the ends of the first support, and all the supports being provided with mutually interengaging ends so that they are capable of being linked together in end to end relationship to form a chain of supports, for example, as a life-line.