US2519376A - Stretcher float - Google Patents

Description

22, 1950 B. E. JENNINGS 2,519,376

STRETCHER FLOAT Filed Sept. 15, 1946 FIG. 2

Swan/whom BELTON E. JENNINGS Patented Aug. 22, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STRETCHER FLQA'I Belton Emoulcus ennings, United States Navy Application September 13, lfl ifi, Serial No, 686,960 2 Claims. (01. 9511.) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

This invention relates to stretcher floats and has for an object to provide quickly attachable and detachable floats for providing readily controllable flotation to stretchers for use in removing injured persons from the water, a in rescue greatest possible gentleness, the handling of in- .jured persons without inducing additional pain While they are being taken aboard cannot be accomplished.

The use of a Stokes stretcher as a seine for lifting the injured personnel has been a great aid in overcoming some of the difliculties involved. However, ordinary Stokes stretchers are dif icult to handle in the water and are not entirely satisfactory. It is an object of this invention to provide quickly attachable and detachable floats to the standard Stokes stretcher so as toafford ease in handling of the stretcher in removing survivors of crashes without causing additional injuries.

A further object of this invention i to provide floats for a stretcher which not only provide flotation to the stretcher but also act as lenders and shock absorbers during the hoisting of the stretcher aboard the rescue vessel, thus minimizing the eflect of jarring and bumping.

A further object of this invention is to provide stretcher floats which, in addition to being provided as standard equipment, may be improvised in the field from stock and salvage material practically always available in the field.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the specification and drawings which follow, in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a Stokes stretcher with the floats of this invention attached thereto, and

Fig. 2 is a side plan view, partly broken away, of Fig. 1.

There is shown at i E] a fioatable stretcher made up according to this invention. This floatable stretcher l include a standard Stokes stretcher H to the ends of which are attached two fitted U-shaped floats I2 and i3, made up according to this invention. Although the Stokes type of stretcher II is here illustrated, it will be underamended April 30, 192 8; 3700. G. 7 57) and stood that any other similar type of stretcher may be used. The stretcher illustrated, as usual, consists of an oval shaped frame is having ends of general U-shape and the usual side bars 55 and cross bars I 6 as well as the leg dividing bar ll, to which frame and bars is secured the dished or baske't shaped wire mesh 18. This stretcher II is of the type adapted to support an adult person at full length with his head at one end and his legs on opposite sides of the leg dividing bar I! at the other end and is standard first aid equipment everywhere.

The invention consists in the head end U.- shaped float l2 and the feet end U-shaped float I3. together with the means for securing such "ll-shaped floats to the stretcher II, as well as the handling lines 2!] for maneuvering the float- .at 2:, and in addition, may be provided with knots spaced one, foot apart for the five or six feet. nearest the stretcher to aid in manually holding the wet. line when lifting the stretcher aboard. the rescue vessel.

Each of the floats l2 and G3 are made identical ly, diiiering only in their dimensions so that they may better fit the wider head end 22 and the narrower feet end 23 of the stretcher it. Each of the floats is made of an inner pneumatic tube 24 having a conventional valve 25 for inflating the same. This tube may be a discarded airplane or automobile tire tube of appropriate size, either folded double if small enough, or cut and closed at its ends by vulcanizing or cold patching. The tube 24 i placed within a canvas boot 26 shaped to flt the stretcher ends 22 and 23 and extending a short distance along the sides of the stretcher II as shown, thus making the floats somewhat U-shaped, as shown.

sewed about the center and adjacent the ends of the U-shaped canvas boots 26 are attaching straps 21 and 28, the straps encompassing the boot and terminating in snap buckles 30, which extend under the stretcher H and are snapped to the wire mesh I8 of the stretcher II. The center strap 21 has an additional shorter strap 3| sewed thereto, having a D-ring 32 sewed close to the outer top edge of the boot 26, and a snap buckle 33 at its end, this strap 3| being folded about the frame l4 and secured to the D-ring to the vicinity of the injured person.

32, thus holding the float firmly in position at the head and feet ends 22 and 23 of the stretcher ll. These straps 21, 28 and 3| are made of harness or webbing similar to that used in parachute harness, and in fact, may be made of discarded parachute harness, for they do not carry any very great load when in use. The inner tubes 24 may be secured within the canvas boots 25 by leaving an opening in the end of the boots and then sewing it up after the tube is inserted. 1

In operation, the floats l2 and 13, either before or after inflation, may be attached to the stretcher II by passing the second center strap 3| about the frame 14 and snapping its buckle 33 to the D-ring 32. Then the other straps 21 and 28 are passed under the ends of the stretcher H and their buckles 30 are snapped to the wire mesh l8. Next, the handling lines 20 with their coils 2| are tied to the frame I4 at about the point where the end straps 28 pass thereunder, thus making the floatable stretcher l ready for use.

In rescuing an injured person from the water, two men, preferably wearing life jackets and with separate safety lines tied to them in case of heavy seas, maneuver the floating stretcher I0 After straightening the person in the water, they mere- 1y depress the floating stretcher [0 in the water to under the injured person, and let it gently float upward until it supports the injured person.

Then with the aid of the handling lines and the safety lines, operated by personnel aboard the rescue vessel, they make their way to the side of the rescue vessel where the stretcher is hoisted aboard manually by the handling lines, with the aid of the knots in the lines, or, if available on the rescue boat, the foot end handling lines are reeved through a pulley, to assist in getting the stretcher l0 out of the water on board the rescue vessel. When the floating stretcher I0 is being removed from the water to the deck, the floats l2 and I3 act as fenders and shock absorbers, minimizing jars and bumps. After the stretcher is on deck, if desired, the floats and handling lines may be quickly detached, especially if needed for use on additional stretchers II, to which they can be quickly attached, for further rescue work.

The invention described herein may be manu- 4 factured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in combination with a basket-shaped stretcher of the Stokes type having ends of general U-shape, a combination flotation and fender means comprising a pair of U-shaped pneumatic floats adapted to be secured about the U-shaped ends of the stretcher between the planes of the top and bottom of said stretcher, said floats each comprising an inner tube, a U-shaped canvas boot within which said inner tube is located, straps secured to and encompassing said boot, and stretcher-attaching means on said straps adapted to be secured to a stretcher element from the bottom thereof.

2. For use in combination with a basket-shaped stretcher of the Stokes type having ends of general U-shape, a combination flotation and fender means comprising a pair of U-shaped floats adapted to be secured about the U-shaped ends of the stretcher between the planes of the top and bottom of said stretcher, said floats each comprising flotation means, a U-shaped canvas boot within which said flotation means is located, straps secured to and encompassing said boot, and stretcher-attaching snap buckles on said straps adapted to be snapped to a stretcher element from the bottom thereof, an additional strap at about the center of the boot, a snap buckle thereon, a buckle receiving ring on said boot for said additional strap to pass about an element of the stretcher at its upper edge and back to the buckle receiving ring on said boot to thereby properly position the float at the stretcher end.

BELTON EMOULOUS JENNINGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,277,022 Young Aug. 27, 1918 1,793,905 Chestnut Feb. 24, 1931 2,355,757 Spanel Aug. 15, 1944 2,391,906 Kearny Jan. 1, 1946

Images