Patent ID: 6422875
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: B43L

Abstract:
A device for intubated or voice-disabled patients to facilitate communication with their care providers or family to meet the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of the intubated or voice-disabled patient, the device comprising:a board having oppositely facing surfaces; a listing of descriptive words and phrases pre-printed onto at least one surface of the board indicating the patient's current physiological and emotional status, and physical needs and wants, selected from the group consisting of: water, thirsty, ice, hungry, medicine, suction, sit, bath, blanket, happy, good, hot, better, wet, tired, light-headed, nauseous, anxious, sad, bad, cold, worse, dirty, sleep, bedpan, family, glasses, lotion, hairbrush, light, television, and clean; a graphical representation of front and back sides of a human body including a head, neck, torso, legs, and arms pre-printed onto at least one of the surfaces of the board; descriptive words and phrases pre-printed onto at least one of the surfaces of the board and associated with the graphical representation of the human body for indicating the location of physical experiences, including pain; a grid pre-printed onto at least one of the surfaces of the board and containing a sequential listing of letters of an alphabet for the patient to spell out words which are not printed on the board; and a marker associated with the board and usable by the patient to mark the pre-printed descriptive words and phrases, graphical representation of the body, or grid of alphabetical letters to communicate the voice-disabled patient's physical and emotional status and needs to a family member or care provider.