Lifting/holding a leg is a significant risk to Healthcare Professionals:

One in four nurses has at some time taken time off work with a back injury sustained at work. In the NHS manual handling accidents account for 40% of all sickness absence. The cost to the NHS of manual handling accident related sickness absence is in the region of £400 million each year.

Research carried out by the University of Bradford’s School of Health Studies has shown that the use of a Suspension Stand/Sling combination can significantly reduce the manual handling risk involved in the leg lifting and sustained hold processes required for therapeutic and nursing interventions, particularly in the critical and often prolonged holding phase.

Building on this research, Salitas™ has developed a “family” of lifting/support systems each one of which is specifically designed for use in a particular medical/healthcare application.

Salitas Plaster Room Suspension System

The first of this “family” is the Salitas™ Plaster Room Suspension System, specifically designed to eliminate much of the holding currently carried out as a manual procedure during the application of a cast.

The application of a cast to a lower limb inevitably means that the limb in question has to be raised and suspended for at least some of the time during which the cast is being applied.

This raising and lowering is usually carried out as a manual procedure and poses considerable risks in the form of back injuries, to the Healthcare Professional.

A further disadvantage of the manual procedure is that of patient comfort, since a small movement may cause extreme pain in a fractured limb.

Developed in conjunction with the University of Bradford’s School of Health Studies the Salitas™ Plaster Room Suspension System has been designed to reduce the risk of back injuries to the person carrying out the manual handling procedure and at the same time minimise the possibility of causing any unnecessary pain to the patient.

The system consists of two parts:

• The Plaster Room Support
• The Plaster Room Leg Sling

The Plaster Room Support has been derived from the work carried out with its sister product, the Salitas™ Suspension Stand and has been designed with the following specific operational requirements in mind:

• Limited operating space around the Plaster Trolley
• A need for precision adjustment to allow the limb to be lifted at the correct angle
• Simple interface with the Sling
• Wipe-down surfaces

Plaster Room Support

In addition, the Plaster Room Support has been designed with simplicity and affordability in mind. Apart from the lockable castors, the support contains no moving parts (the patient trolley is used to provide the lifting mechanism) and is of a simple construction.

The accompanying Plaster Room Leg Sling has also been specially engineered to have a number of specific attributes:

• Strength
• Comfort
• Dimensional Stability, to minimise rucking
• Low-friction surface to allow easy movement along the limb
• Maintains strength when wet
• Structural integrity to prevent potential cross-infection hazard from fibre loss

The product is fully disposable and intended for single use. The simple, clean design makes applying the sling to the leg and then connecting it to the Plaster Room Support a quick and easy procedure carried out by one person.

The Salitas™ Plaster Room Suspension System is the first of its kind, aimed specifically at reducing back injuries among Healthcare Professionals carrying out lifting tasks during specialised procedures involving lower limbs.

Further variants aimed at other areas of operation are at an advanced stage of development and will be introduced in late 2008/early 2009.

For further information please contact Salitas™.