Redesign of Medical Stretcher for Special Operation Pararescue Jumpers

: The AFRL developed a prototype medical stretcher for use by the Air Force Special Operations Command based on a crowd-sourced concept that would reduce the time to remove an injured soldier from the battlefield to improve his survivability. This concept was for a small lightweight inflatable stretcher with wheels that uses material in commercial inflatable kayaks. Problems were identified with this approach and several redesigns were made with the intention of building a prototype system that could be tested by the user community for acceptability and ease of use.