This study from the University of North Carolina Hospitals Emergency Department was undertaken in an attempt to define “adequate” spinal immobilization and the frequency with which it’s applied to patients transported to the ED on backboards.

Image courtesy of Reeves EMS: the Reeves Sleeve II, designed for rapid immobilization.

They defined an “adequate” strap to be one that has less than 2 cm of slack measured at the point where the strap contacts the patient. Quality of immobilization was measured by determining the number of straps used to immobilize both the head and body, including proper placement of head blocks and padding.

They evaluated 50 consecutive patients who were triaged as having “low” acuity injuries. They report that 15 (30%) had at least one unattached strap or piece of tape that should have attached their head to the board. Forty-four (88%) were found to have greater than 2 cm of slack between their body and at least one strap with the average strap tightness being 4.2 cm. Among those with any straps looser than 2 cm, the average number of loose straps was 3.4.

Read the entire article.

Filed under: EMS, Proper Practices