broken bones and splints

[emtcutie]

i'm actually supriesed you guys have heard of CAP. I did search and rescue with them. And yes rhichard most of the calls were bogus. I remember distinctly one night wehere we were searching for a "sinking boat" in the middle of a a neighbor hood at 4am because the e-perb was going off...turned out it was in somebodys garage and we had to wake them up to take a look. The real mssions where few and far between. Which is a good thing because that means no one needed finding, but when they did come i loved it. I was thinking about getting really invloved with wilderness SAR. But I would like to get my paramedic first.

[Chief1C]

We had to do the two pike pole/two fire coat stretcher in essentials of firefighting. I guess just to see if it was possible. Use oak pikes, not fiberglass. Bad bad bad idea.

[emsgirl911]

I have actually seen an improvised splint for a femur fx. However, this would only work in a camp setting rather than a hiking one. I saw a demonstration of it maybe three or four years ago - how exactly it was done I cant remember (because at that time I had no interest in EMS... now Im kicking myself in the "ash" for not paying attention as much as I should have.) What I do recall about it was that it works like a sager, more or less. Anyhow, its made with a regular old angle broom and a few shirts or whatever else you so choose as straps. Only downfall of this is that said broom needs to have a hole in the end - intended by the manufacturer to be used for hanging it, intended by us to be used in rigging an ankle hitch. Not an incredibly helpful description, but food for thought, nonetheless.

Stay safe -emsgirl911

[Richard B the EMT]

Use oak pikes, not fiberglass. Bad bad bad idea.

Why? Do they flex too much?

[emtcutie]

Why? Do they flex too much?

i'm sure they break way to much... you cant out much weight in it, but thats just an assumption

[HERBIE1]

I have actually seen an improvised splint for a femur fx. However, this would only work in a camp setting rather than a hiking one. I saw a demonstration of it maybe three or four years ago - how exactly it was done I cant remember (because at that time I had no interest in EMS... now Im kicking myself in the "ash" for not paying attention as much as I should have.) What I do recall about it was that it works like a sager, more or less. Anyhow, its made with a regular old angle broom and a few shirts or whatever else you so choose as straps. Only downfall of this is that said broom needs to have a hole in the end - intended by the manufacturer to be used for hanging it, intended by us to be used in rigging an ankle hitch. Not an incredibly helpful description, but food for thought, nonetheless.

Stay safe -emsgirl911

In my EMT wilderness training- in the early 80's- we improvised a traction splint. I can't recall all the details but I think it involved tent poles, torn up shirts as cravats for support and the ankle hitch, and a stick to apply the traction to . Surprisingly, it worked pretty well..

[tniuqs]

Might want to look at these \:

Kendrick Traction:

http://www.epandr.com/products/traction/KTD.htm

CT-6

http://www.faretec.com/CT-6-carbon-traction-leg-splint-reviews.html

Both are relatively inexpensive and work like a charm.

With today's techo wizardry why improvise ?

A good SAR team trains and has good kit.

Edited January 10, 2011 by tniuqs

[scubanurse]

The way I learned to improvise a traction splint worked very well.

You cut slits in the sides of the hiking book to put webbing or string or clothing through and then lace up the boot nice and snug. You use a tent pole, long thick branch, walking stick, anything firm. You attach the pole to the leg like you would a regular splint, and then make a pully system at the distal end to pull traction.