New Med Sled Evacuation Range From Hospital Aids

The company will be launching the Med Sled range into UK and Irish markets, along with sister company Spectrum Healthcare, on an exclusive basis.

Creators of the Med Sled Arc Products LLC, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the best known manufacturers of cost-effective and high quality evacuation products in the USA. The company was founded in 2003 and were originally manufacturers of a sled designed for removing heavy debris over dense forest floor.

Things took a positive turn for the company following the disasters of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. It became clear that there were gaping holes in America’s level of disaster preparedness, especially across the care sector. Hospitals, schools, and nursing homes across the USA started to review their disaster plans, which included emergency procedures for evacuating non-ambulant individuals.

During a trade show in Las Vegas, CEO Clifford Adkins was approached by a marine, on leave from duty in Baghdad and was asked if ARC Products could produce a human sled, for the removal of individuals with limited mobility from hazardous situation - including the evacuation of injured soldiers from the battlefield.

So, with the help of his father, who was an engineer, Clifford set to work creating a prototype in his garage. After much deliberation, trial and error they devised a light-weight, high density Polyethylene sled, with a perimeter tether rope and a stairwell braking system - to enable the sled to easily descend several flights of stairs in a matter of minutes, with no heavy lifting requirements.

They named the device the Med Sled and successfully had the design patented in 2006.

Since its official launch over 3,500 Hospitals in the USA alone have chosen Med Sled® as their preferred evacuation device. This includes the top 18 Hospitals in the USA Honour Roll (John Hopkins, Mass General, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic…) as per US News and World Report. Med Sleds can also be found in a large number of schools, universities and care homes throughout the USA.

Following the success of their original device, Arc Products have continued to develop products to support the disaster preparedness and the emergency evacuation and rescue needs of their customers.

Among the range of products developed by ARC Products LLC are Junior, Bariatric, Vertical Lift, Tactical, Military and Funeral specification Med Sleds, along with cushioned inserts which allow the standard and bariatric Med Sleds to be used for the evacuation of up to two toddlers or three babies - including life sustaining equipment.

Other Med Sled products include, single ‘special care’ baby evacuation baskets and a specially designed rack system which can hold up to six Med Sled Baby Baskets eliminating the immediate need to have infant beds at an alternative care site following an evacuation.

Med Sleds have already been successfully used during some high profile disasters. The best example of which was during Hurricane Sandy, October 2011, when New York City Hospital had to be evacuated.

During the storm the hospital basement started to take on water, the lower floors and elevator shafts filled with 10 to 12 feet of water causing the main power to fail. Backup generators slowly began to breakdown, resulting in a 90% power-outage and forced staff to begin an evacuation.

Around 300 patients, including 20 babies in neonatal intensive care - some on battery-powered respirators and others needing to be manually ventilated by staff, had to be transferred to neighbouring hospitals.

Teams of four to five staff at the hospital aided in the evacuation of the very sick and non-ambulant patients on Med Sled, using the tethered braking system, from as high up as the 17th floor – with emergency crews and other responders leading the way by torch light due to the power outage.

The evacuation was completed successfully with no fatalities or injuries thanks to the hospitals’ forward planning, disaster preparedness and the installation of Med Sleds.

International Sales and Marketing Director Steve Clark said; “We are very excited to be representing Med Sled and introducing these devices into UK & Irish markets on an exclusive basis.

Here at Hospital Aids we are committed to developing and sourcing evacuation and rescue equipment to meet our customers varying needs. We feel that the Med Sled range complement our existing menu and will fill a gap in the market with regards to cost effective options for confined space extractions, vertical lift operations and the safe movement of toddlers and infants from special care units.

We look forward to working with Arc Products and further developing close relations.”

Hospital Aids, along with sister company Spectrum Healthcare (UK) Ltd, will be offering free onsite demonstrations of the Med Sled range across the UK and Ireland.

If you are interested in a product demonstration of these or any of their other equipment visit http://www.hospitalaids.co.uk/evacuation