Floating Rescue Stretcher - NSRI, South Africa

Finalist of the IMRF Awards 2019 Category: Innovation & Technology

The National Sea Rescue Institute in South Africa conducts many rescues along difficult rocky shorelines, where any casualties have either to be carried to safety along the narrow coastal footpath, or have to be evacuated by sea.

To help with these specialist rescues, the NSRI Plettenberg Bay volunteers have designed a new floating stretcher which can be used over rocks and through surf to extricate a patient who has been immobilised.

The stretcher’s size and light weight mean that it is equally suitable for carrying over rough terrain, or for use in water rescues.

It is solid enough to be suitable for performing CPR, but is also comfortable for the casualty and has a hood to deflect surf. It can even be paddled to carry two rescue crew, together with medical equipment in swift water and floods

The floating rescue platform design incorporates ideas from existing equipment, as well as some completely new concepts. The finished product only weights 20kg and, having proved its worth locally in Plettenberg Bay, is now being rolled out nationally.

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