The Air Force has launched a challenge seeking innovative designs for a transportation device that can be carried into a combat site by a single rescuer and safely evacuate an injured person.
The contest is open until February 28 and will offer $15,000 in prizes.
From the challenge:
This Challenge is seeking innovative designs for a transportation device that can be carried into a combat site by a single rescuer, quickly unpacked to load an injured or deceased person, and used to safely evacuate the injured or deceased person away from the combat zone and into a helicopter.
The current design is a collapsible medical stretcher that uses straps to secure the patient, but straps are too slow to deploy in the field. Any design is acceptable as long as it meets all requirements; detailed Technical Requirements are available in the full description. Key improvements over existing systems are: quick/simple loading of an injured person, ease for a single rescuer (on foot) to safely transport the injured person across difficult terrain, ability to support/stabilize the body’s vital functions, and overall elegance/simplicity of the design. The Seeker expects to prototype winning designs; successful Solvers may be invited to engage in the design/prototyping process.
