Patent Application
20250000189
The embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to personal protective equipment (PPE)
Disposable PPE, such as gowns or scrubs, are utilized by medical personnel to prevent direct contact with a patient. However, common PPE gowns or scrubs are at least partially ineffective when performing certain tasks, such as while performing specific methods of carrying the patient.
In a rescue scenario, rescuers may use hospital bed sheets to carry a patient using the sheet to provide a barrier between the rescuer and the patient while carrying the patient in a “hug” method. These methods are not ergonomically friendly and make it difficult to lift patients sufficiently above the ground during a carry. This forces rescuers to carry the patient in a bent forward position creating strain on the rescuer's back. Additionally, bed sheets or traditional clothes are absorbent and not suitable in situations where patients may be covered in fluids such as blood, urine, vomit, feces, or other contaminants. Square or rectangular sheeting is also not conducive to covering all areas of contact between the rescuer and patient, commonly leaving areas such as the head, face, and arms exposed.
This summary is provided to introduce a variety of concepts in a simplified form that is further disclosed in the detailed description of the embodiments. This summary is not intended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The embodiments provided herein relate to a disposable personal protective equipment apparatus is disclosed, including a cape comprising a patient facing surface opposite a rescuer facing surface, a first side, a second side, a first corner, a second corner, and a top edge extending between the first corner and the second corner. A hood is attached to the top edge. A first sleeve is attached to the first side below the first corner and a second sleeve is attached to the second side below the second corner.
The disclosed PPE apparatus may include a cape, a hood, and a pair of sleeves making up a PPE garment constructed and arranged to prevent skin-to-skin contact between a rescuer and a patient while the patient is being carried using the “hug position” or “hug method”.
In one aspect, the disposable personal protective equipment apparatus prevent skin-to-skin contact between a rescuer and a patient.
In one aspect, the hood includes a defined cavity, wherein the defined cavity at least partially covers the patient's head.
In one aspect, the first sleeve include a first sleeve end and the second sleeve includes a second sleeve end.
In one aspect, a first thumb hole is provided on the first sleeve end and a second thumb-hole is provided on the second sleeve end.
In one aspect, the defined cavity includes an opening arrange towards a first surface, wherein the first surface is a patient-facing surface.
In one aspect, the second surface is a rescuer-facing surface.
Other illustrative variations within the scope of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. The detailed description and enumerated variations, while disclosing optional variations, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
A complete understanding of the present embodiments and the advantages and features thereof will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The specific details of the single embodiment or variety of embodiments described herein are set forth in this application. Any specific details of the embodiments described herein are used for demonstration purposes only, and no unnecessary limitation(s) or inference(s) are to be understood or imputed therefrom.
Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of components related to particular devices and systems. Accordingly, the device components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
In general, the embodiments provided herein relate to a disposable personal protective equipment apparatus (i.e., the PPE garment) which includes a cape, a hood, and a pair of sleeves making up the PPE garment. The PPE garment is constructed and arranged to prevent skin-to-skin contact between a rescuer and a patient when the patient is being carried by the rescuer. In particular, the PPE garment may be particularly effective when the rescuer is carrying the patient in the “hug position” (i.e., the “hug method”).
During use, the hood of the PPE garment may be placed over the back of the head of the patient such that the cape lies over the back of the torso, pelvis, and buttock of the patient. A rescuer may insert their arms within the sleeves, which may be open ended or sealed closed at the end, such as in a mitten or glove construction. The rescuer may then be able to carry the patient using the hug method, similar to that of a Heimlich Maneuver (i.e., the rescuer's chest against the back of the patient).
The cape may be approximately torso and pelvis length, such as two to four feet in length, such that the cape prevents contact between a rescuer's torso and pelvis and a patient's torso, pelvis, and buttocks.
The hood may be attached to the cape and may be constructed and arranged to cover the back of the head of the patient and prevent contact between the patient's head and a rescuers face and head.
The sleeves may be attached to the cape relatively lower on the cape compared to a standard garment such as a jacket. In such, the sleeves may be positioned under the arms of a patient wearing the hood and cape such that a rescuer wearing the sleeves may position the sleeves under the arms of a patient.
The cape 101 may include a first edge 106, second edge 108, and a top edge 104 to which the hood 114 may be at least partially attached. The cape 101 may include a first corner 112 and a second corner 110. The first sleeve 118 may be attached to the first edge 106 below the first corner 112. Similarly, the second sleeve 122 may be attached to the second side 108 below the second corner 110. The positioning of the first sleeve 118 and the second sleeve 122 may be configured such that they are under the arms of a patient wearing the hood and cape such that a rescuer wearing the sleeves 118,122 may be positioned near corners 110, 112.
In some embodiments, the first sleeves 118 may include a first thumb hole 220 and the second sleeve 122 may include a second thumb hole 230. Each thumb hole 220,230 may aid in retaining the sleeves 118,122 in a position to cover the full length of the rescuer's arms, such that the sleeves 118,122 do not slide up the arms of the rescuer.
In some embodiments, the disposable personal protective equipment apparatus 100 is constructed of a material which does not readily absorb fluids or materials (e.g., blood, saliva, urine, feces, etc.). In such, the disposable personal protective equipment apparatus 100 provides a barrier between the patient 301 and the rescuer 300 which prevents the transmission of bodily fluids or other contaminants.
In some embodiments, the second surface 202 includes an opening 240 such that the rescuer can easily enter the interior of the cape 101 and extend their torso into Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent allowed by applicable law and regulations. The systems and methods described herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Any headings utilized within the description are for convenience only and have no legal or limiting effect.
Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and/or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.
The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of this disclosure. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of this disclosure.
As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It should be noted that all features, elements, components, functions, and steps described with respect to any embodiment provided herein are intended to be freely combinable and substitutable with those from any other embodiment. If a certain feature, element, component, function, or step is described with respect to only one embodiment, then it should be understood that that feature, element, component, function, or step can be used with every other embodiment described herein unless explicitly stated otherwise. This paragraph therefore serves as antecedent basis and written support for the introduction of claims, at any time, that combine features, elements, components, functions, and steps from different embodiments, or that substitute features, elements, components, functions, and steps from one embodiment with those of another, even if the description does not explicitly state, in a particular instance, that such combinations or substitutions are possible. It is explicitly acknowledged that express recitation of every possible combination and substitution is overly burdensome, especially given that the permissibility of each and every such combination and substitution will be readily recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.
In many instances entities are described herein as being coupled to other entities. It should be understood that the terms “coupled” and “connected” (or any of their forms) are used interchangeably herein and, in both cases, are generic to the direct coupling of two entities (without any non-negligible (e.g., parasitic intervening entities) and the indirect coupling of two entities (with one or more non-negligible intervening entities). Where entities are shown as being directly coupled together or described as coupled together without description of any intervening entity, it should be understood that those entities can be indirectly coupled together as well unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
While the embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific examples thereof have been shown in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that these embodiments are not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, these embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit of the disclosure. Furthermore, any features, functions, steps, or elements of the embodiments may be recited in or added to the claims, as well as negative limitations that define the inventive scope of the claims by features, functions, steps, or elements that are not within that scope.
An equivalent substitution of two or more elements can be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element can be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements can be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination can be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present embodiment is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the following claims.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/523,703 filed Jun. 28, 2023, titled “DISPOSABLE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT APPARATUS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63523703 | Jun 2023 | US |
