The original MegaMover® has been used by many fire departments and EMS services. These transport units have met the need to evacuate and transport patients from inaccessible areas for many years.

While these flexible stretchers are an improvement over rigid, wheeled gurneys, and are good for general use, they may not be appropriate for mass casualty events since their design envisions the availability of full-size EMS teams.

Mass Casualty Incidents and Hostile Environments

The primary characteristic of a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) is that EMS services may be overwhelmed by the need to treat large numbers of patients with relatively few responders. This situation is exacerbated in unsafe environments where there's an urgent need to move patients out of harm's way to a safe zone, quickly and safely. Such scenarios may include terrorist incidents, mass shootings, natural disasters, major accidents, and fires with the possibility of explosions.

Mass Casualties

At Graham Medical, we recognized the need for a product that could efficiently transport a victim by being dragged or carried by a minimal number of responders. We developed a prototype and asked a local fire captain, responsible for disaster training, to evaluate and provide input on the product.

Captain Michael Wright, MIH Coordinator for the Milwaukee Fire Department, was that person. He suggested several improvements resulting in the Disaster Response MegaMover® with some key mass casualty features including:

• Strength: Able to drag or carry over-weight patients
• Size: A compact size that easily fits in rescue vehicles
• Safety: Securely cocoons patient and incorporates a cross strap to keep the victim in place during dragging
• Simplicity: Unambiguous design showing head and foot placement
• Flexibility: Usable by either small or large rescue teams
• Durable: Able to be used multiple times for the mass casualties at the disaster scene

Hostile Environments

Fire Chief Joe Pulvermacher from Fitchburg, Wisconsin had first-hand experience with two active shooting incidents with multiple casualties. This helped him identify several requirements for patient transport in hostile situations including:

• Portability: Device should be easily carried on responders' person
• Stability: Must have a strap to secure the victim to the device
• Simple design: A straightforward symmetrical design with no "wrong-side" application
• Personnel: Suitable for use by one or two responders
• Stress friendly: A "No brainer" to use, not requiring additional thinking; and able to be used with gloved and/or shaky hands
• Durability: Able to be re-used to move other victims from the scene
• Economical: Priced to be used for single-use application

Chief Pulvermacher looked to other manufacturers to develop this transport unit, but found them to be too pricey or that it would take a long time to complete development of the product. So he called the number printed on his MegaMover® and within two years witnessed the production of the Tactical MegaMover® at a price point that makes it a disposable item.

Graham Medical Develops Two New MegaMover® Products

Although the requirements were similar, we at Graham Medical felt the differences warranted the development of two different products. In both instances, we worked closely with the fire protection professionals developing and testing their concepts to create solutions. The two products we developed are the Disaster Response MegaMover® and the Tactical MegaMover®.

The Disaster Response MegaMover® incorporates a patient cross strap with two drag straps at the head end. The position of the patient's head and feet are imprinted on the unit, and it is strong enough to carry up to 500 pounds, yet is lightweight and compact. It is versatile with eight multi-position handholds for two to eight responders to carry patients.

The Tactical MegaMover® has a strap to secure the patient and three long pull or carry straps at either end. These can be clipped to responders' belts, leaving hands free, while patients are safely dragged or carried to safety. It can be used by one or two rescuers. The device is fully symmetrical with no "wrong side" application.

Contact us at Graham Medical for more information on these two innovative MegaMover® products. Alternatively, see a demonstration of the Disaster Response MegaMover® at a training seminar conducted by Captain Wright at the next EMS World Expo in Nashville in October 2018.