Mountainous problem

Customarily, this has been achieved either by somebody strong carrying the other person over the shoulder or, more commonly, two people carrying the injured party on a stretcher. Even when the injured person has been brought to safety, there may still be a long journey home along precipitous paths. Helicopters have made mountain rescue quicker and easier, but there are still places they cannot go, particularly in bad weather, which unfortunately is when climbing accidents often occur. Traditional mountain rescue stretchers have improved little on the version adapted in the 1900s by John Neil Robertson from a Japanese design and still used by some. Originally made of bamboo, it wraps around the casualty and for many years was required equipment on every ship registered with Lloyds of London where it was referred to as, "Hammock for Hoisting Wounded Men for Stokeholds and for use in Ships whose Ash Hoists are 2 ft 6 in. diameter". The Challenge While there have been many developments since, few cope with the problem of one person having to transport another, without help, or simply to ease the transportation task. Our challenge this month is to come up with a stretcher that still enables the injured person to be strapped to a rigid support, but which could be transported some distance along a steep and narrow mountain path without too much trouble – by no more than two reasonably fit people. The solution we offer was developed in response to a commission by one of the UK's leading mountain rescue committee. When you read it in the 'Coffee Time Challenge' area of our website (www.eurekamagazine.co.uk) you will realise that it fulfils the requirements brilliantly. You may even wonder why its main principle has not been thought of or adopted before; or perhaps it has, without our being aware of it? For those without access to the web, the solution will be described fully in our February 2008 edition. But can you think of a better way to overcome this mountainous task? Solution The solution to our January 2008 challenge comes from James Kean, director of a small engineering consultancy, Technocroft, based in Kyle of Lochalsh in Ross-shire. The basic construction is as a carbon fibre shell, with a titanium perimeter. But the real innovation is that it incorporates a long arm with a wheel and a suspension, so it can be handled like a wheelbarrow. "The wheel is for when you are transporting a casualty over a long distance, such as along a mountain path," he says. The whole combination goes in a rucksack and weighs 28kg, including the wheel unit. The bed part weighs 11kg, including head guard and bag. Kean adds: "It goes together extremely compactly. It normally takes four people to carry all the [conventional] equipment for a rescue, including the first aid kit. We are planning to reduce the weight of our new design further." He thinks it would be unrealistic to expect one bearer to be able to handle the equipment, but rather two bearers at a minimum.