CAMTS warning on stretcher clip decks
CAMTS has shared an urgent safety notice issued by LifePort, warning that its Clip Decks are not to be used in ground vehicle transfers.
The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) has shared an urgent safety notice issued by LifePort, warning that its Clip Decks are not to be used in ground vehicle transfers.
In a blog post, CAMTS stated on 25 June: “[We have] received several calls on this safety issue. We have been made aware of incidents as a result of the LifePort Clip Decks. We have been told that not all parties have received [the] notice from LifePort.”
The LifePort safety notice shared by CAMTS warns users that the Clip Deck ‘is designed and to be used for the purposes of non-vehicular ground transfers only’. The notice continues: “LifePort's Clip Deck is not designed, approved and should not be used, under any circumstances, to secure or retain an AeroSled during ground vehicle travel of any kind, including ambulance travel. LifePort’s Clip Deck is not, and has never been, intended to be used in ambulances or any type of ground vehicles, under any circumstances. Any such usage will expose all persons using the equipment, including but not limited to patients, passengers and medical professionals, to possible injury or death and therefore should be ceased immediately.”
One air and ground medical transport provider recently shared its experiences with the Clip Deck via a report shared through the CONCERN Network. The report said: “While traveling on a wide curve on a county road, the LifePort sled came out of its base – a LifePort Clip Deck which is bolted to the stretcher.” The ambulance was traveling at around 50 mph (80 kph) when the incident occurred, and the patient concerned weighed 195 lb (90 kg), said the report.
The incident, which took place in May, was the third occurrence of a sled coming out of a clip deck, said the provider. After the second ‘very serious’ occurrence happened in 2010, the organisation decided to replace the aluminium brackets with steel units. The previous incidents involved Clip Decks that had been in use for 10 years, but the example that failed in May was just six-months old and the brackets had not yet been replaced.
The provider further stated that it learned of the safety notice from an AAMS Critical Care Ground Safety Interest Group. The report on CONCERN Network states that Lifeport told the provider that the product is a ‘stabilising device’ that ‘had always been intended to move patients from an aircraft to an ambulance only’, and that ‘they were never marketed or sold for ground transport’.