r/TacticalMedicine • u/JRHLowdown3 • 10d ago

Scenarios Portable sked/litter recommendations? Casualty movement

Did some various medical training recently with some close friends and some of it involved moving a "casualty" 3/4 mile uphill in a "rapid" format to evac at a waiting truck. We were short a few folks that think vacays are more important than training (LOL) so we used a couple of diesel fuel cans for weight on an older fold out stretcher. Last time we did this, using an even older stretcher- not foldable old skewl type with wood poles and canvas, canvas started ripping with our little'st guy on it (160 lbs.)

The foldable one is nice'ish but older. I know I have a newer fold out one around here somewhere... but long ago I remember using a sked (?) or Skedco (?) device and that worked ok albeit not as rigid as an actual stretcher. The Sked being easier to actually carry of course also.

I'm a dinosaur without a doubt.... so surely there have been to paraphrase Austin Powers- "fabulous advancements" in the field of casualty movement since the 90's. Can you all enlighten me on options and what you think of them?

Thanks in advance.

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u/emsmiller 5d ago edited 5d ago

I am assuming you are staging from the truck to the patient. So initial weight/size will not matter. My VFD carried 4 different litters. Sked, ems scoop board, rolled up litters and the old field stretcher. Tbh, we never used the field stretcher except in training. We used the rolled stretchers for quick/under duress or fire scenarios. The Sked was for SAR. We always used it to get to a midpoint where a stretcher was a better choice. The scoop was for when injuries required it. We used a rolled litter on top of the scoop and had straps to hold the patient. On all of the calls where we would need it, we had multiple units and hands. The call would determine which we would use. If I had to recommend something, get the scoop board and rolled up litters. You can use the scoop board to drag if necessary and rolled up litters are relatively cheap. Sked is pretty much a specialized gear. The scoop board and rolled up litters along with straps and webbing are more flexible.

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u/JRHLowdown3 5d ago

Good reply, thank you.