The Situation
“We got called out around midnight for a fall with possible broken arm,” said Paramedic Constance Robinson. Upon arrival, Constance and her partner navigated the winding, narrow corridors of the patient’s home. At the end of the corridor, they encountered a 400-pound woman in her 60s sitting upright with her arm clutched to her chest. "She said she slipped on her sock, fell on her left arm, and heard a snap,” Constance recalled. “She couldn’t get up.” Due to the evident deformity in the patient's left humerus and the potential rib fractures, Constance and her partner were unable to lift the patient using her extremities. Even with the arrival of additional assistance, they were hesitant to utilize a sheet or megamover as it posed the risk of exacerbating the injuries.
That’s when she remembered that her Director had just purchased the Binder Lift, which she had experienced using while working at a different department. After attaching the Binder Lift, the patient “was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to get her feet underneath her”, Constance recalled, “I said ‘we will be able to do it all.’”
“It [Binder Lift] made every bit of difference. We had ahold of her, and we knew she was secure and safe.”
The Binder Lift Difference
Using the Binder Lift, the four responders, including "two petite females" as described by Constance, successfully maneuvered the patient through the winding corridors and safely placed her to the stretcher. “The patient was amazed,” Constance said. “She was like, ‘I didn’t know how you all would have ever gotten me up.’” Without the Binder Lift, Constance isn’t sure, either. “Whether it was a sheet or one of those megamovers, either way, we would have had to manipulate her near those injured areas which could have caused further detrimental injury,” Constance said. Thanks to the Binder Lift, she didn’t have to find out the hard way. “It made every bit of difference. We had a hold of her, and we knew she was secure and safe.”
