Summary: The top five patient transfer devices that are a great help in providing with the much-needed mobility.
Humankind’s physicality is one of the primary reasons why it has conquered the planet, but we often end up treating our ability to make movements for granted.
In certain unfortunate situations such as after an accident or a major injury arises the need for patient transfer devices. A wheelchair being the most commonly used ones but other important devices like transfer belts with handles can also help a patient in its movement for either a temporary or a permanent condition.
Here are the 5 patient transfer devices:
1. Patient Slide Sheets
The slide sheets are of great help for assisting a patient for making movements in bed. Mostly, they are made of nylon fabric material, which is known for its slippery touch.
They are highly effective for the lateral transfers from one point to the other. A patient can easily be mobilized from his hospital bed to a stretcher using a slide sheet. Low friction movement of a slide sheet makes it quite easy for a patient who at present can make an only limited movement. Notable advantage of a slide sheet is that they are easy to use and sliding a patient rather than lifting is any day much more convenient.
2. Transfer or Gait Belt
Padded gait belt with handles is in use for many years for the assistance of partially ambulatory patients. The belt is tied on the waist for using the patient’s weight for picking him up.
The transfer sling and gait belt is of fabric or vinyl and is almost two inches wide. It is mostly used for a patient’s movement from one surface level to the other, and a little cooperation from the patient is required. For instance, they are getting up from a wheelchair or a toilet seat.
The gait belt has received a green flag from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for using them as a mobility tool for medical patients who require assistance. Padded gait belts are also available which provide much more stableness and safety. The transfer belts are also known as the transfer slings.
3. Home Bed Assist Handle
The invention of the home bed assist handle was done to assist patients who can’t easily get in and out of bed. There are bed assist handles available online that has a feature of sliding onto one side of the bed for keeping the tool real close to a patient’s bed. The handle usually weighs around 10-12 pounds, which means that a patient doesn’t have to put much pressure while using the equipment.
4. Transfer Boards
There are times when a patient has to travel somewhere and to get in any mode of transport he needs to make a move through someone else’s help. To make such a movement possible transfer boards have been playing a huge role.
With transfer boards, a sitting patient can easily be slid and lifted to a different location or a seat. Someone who can’t take a walk can use a wheelchair, but for him to get inside a car, he will need a transfer board.
5. Patient Lift and Slings
The hydraulic patient’s lift use the hydraulic fluid to generate the much-needed force for getting the work done. The biggest benefit of using a manual patient lift is that minimal effort is needed for the mobility of a patient.
