John D. Lloyd, PhD, CPE
Board Certified Ergonomist
32824 Michigan Avenue
San Antonio, Florida 33576
Tel: 813-624-8986
Email: DrJohnLloyd@Tampabay.RR.com
Biomechanical Evaluation of Patient Transport Technologies – a project in development
Significance. Nursing personnel have one of the highest job-related injury rates of any occupation in the United States. The healthcare industry recognizes that patient handling tasks are often performed at high risk to the nurse as well as the patient. One high risk patient handling tasks is patient transport, defined as movement of an occupied bed, stretcher, or wheelchair. New technology innovations, such as powered patient transport devices, have emerged. To date, there is no evidence in the literature that quantifies the risk of injury to the caregiver specific to manual patient transport activities, nor the newly available powered patient transport devices.
Approach. A laboratory evaluation is in development to quantify the dynamic biomechanical demands acting upon a caregiver during manual and powered patient transport. One commercially-available powered bed mover and one powered wheelchair mover will be compared against the more traditional manual technique of pushing an occupied bed and wheelchair.
Innovation. Results of this biomechanical analysis will aid us in better understanding the physical demands placed upon caregivers during transport of patients. It is anticipated that this information will promote the utilization of powered transport technologies for this stressful task across the healthcare industry, thereby reducing the risk of caregiver injury.
Please contact Dr. Lloyd for additional information