Earlier we looked at how design helps first responders move patients at accident sites, with a cleverly-designed scoop stretcher.

Here we'll look at a similar problem, further down the line of care. In hospitals, bedridden patients often need to be repositioned within the bed: Rolled on their side, propped up to a sitting position, or "translated," i.e. slid upwards or downwards on the bed. With people weighing what they do, two people are often required to help them perform these movements. The incumbent aid is a low-friction "slide sheet" between the patient and the linens:

Even with slide sheets, however, injuries abound healthcare workers. The problem is that it's ergonomically awkward for a standing person to manipulate the average weight of a person at bed height.

Fergus Davidson, Maireid Carrigg and Maneet Singh, Industrial Design students at Australia's RMIT, have devised a better solution with their Air Lift concept.

Pleasingly, the team explains how research and data, combined with that out-of-the-studio "aha" moment, led to the design:

Air Lift was a National Winner in this year's James Dyson Awards. Davidson, Carrigg and Singh plan to use the AUD $9,000 (USD $6,146) prize money to develop a working prototype. Congratulations to the three of you!

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.

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