As Americans have grown larger, emergency medical personnel have been carrying some of that extra weight away from accidents on trauma boards that don’t always fit super-sized torsos.
Trauma Technologies, in Erie County, has developed a new design for the boards that immobilize people while they are transported to the hospital. The trauma board not only has more strength, it also has unique features that protect those who have serious injuries–in automobile or other accidents–from damage to vulnerable vertebrae in neck and spine during transport to a hospital.
Now, a $147,000 grant from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners is going to enable Trauma Technologies to develop a nationwide market for the innovative board and head immobilizer among first responders, according to Greg Cronkite, co-founder of the company along with Dr. David Scheck. The grant will allow the startup to hire a national sales manager and increase marketing to emergency medical response services across the country.
In addition to its capacity to carry up to 600 pounds, the board also has enlarged handles and a central concavity, which centers a patient on the board and protects the highly vulnerable vertebrae of the neck. The company also offers a gel pad that provides a level of comfort.
“We believe there is a very large market for this board,” Cronkite says. “It provides much more protection. With the gel pad, it also offers comfort that other boards don’t. Emergency responders are pretty excited when they see it.”
Cronkite and his partner have reason to be excited too. In being able to promote its sales, he believes that Trauma Technologies will reach a sales revenue goal of $1 million in three years.
Source: Trauma Technologies, Greg Cronkite
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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