Manual patient lifting vs. leveraged patient transfers
It is never safe to lift and twist patients Never
Conventional patient transfer techniques fail in ease of transfer and safety. The main problem is lifting strains the caregiver and twisting strains the patient. These activities lead to injuries.
Leverage patient transfer techniques reduce the patients transfer weight by 90%. The results in a transfer weight for the average male patient of 17 lbs. This amount of weight can be safely and easily transferred even by a small caregiver.
The leverage techniques. There are more than a dozen safe leverage transfer techniques available. Each technique eliminates manual lifting and limits the transfer weight to 10% of the patients body weight turning a 170 lb patient into a 17 lb patient for transfer purposes.
The tools. You probably already have most of the tools; a gait belt, a transfer pole, a stool and a sideboard. All you will likely need to add is a 12 X 12 lateral transfer plate. This small simple device actually handles the weight during the transfer process. You will not use all of these tools on every transfer but they can be useful in advanced transfer situations.
The benefits. The reduction in transfer weight and the elimination of twisting takes the strain out of the transfer for both the caregiver and the patient reducing the potential for injury to either party.
Learn more. To discover how to safely and simply transfer patients at mrswivel.com.
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