Hospital Friends Pay for Emergency Cushions

Hospital Friends Pay for Emergency Cushions

Inflation can be an uplifting experience, thanks to equipment used by the Island’s ambulance service.

The equipment is for people who have suffered a fall and are unable to get up without help, a problem exacerbated if the person is over-weight. When paramedics arrive on the scene they put a special deflated cushion underneath the patient, which is then inflated with the aid of its own electric air-pump.

Pictured is one of two such emergency cushions, purchased for the service by the Friends of St Mary’s Hospital at the cost of £2,572. Each one is normally deployed aboard an emergency response vehicle.

Dana Whawell, Operational Support Officer, explained that such a mechanical aid was always preferable to paramedics trying to physically lift a person, which could cause an injury to themselves.

Demonstrating how a patient would look like once the cushion is fully inflated is Ambulance Headquarters Adminstrator Emma Lynch. Also in the picture are (left to right): Friends’ volunteer Janice Sharman, paramedic Stuart Adams, and Dana Whawell.