Ladder bridge mat

An inflatable bag which can be attached to an ordinary ladder quickly and easily. Also, the bag can be used to secure multiple ladders together, thereby extending the distance a rescue team can go in order to rescue a victim. Also, since most fire department rescue teams already have ladders attached to their vehicles, the inflatable bags will not take up much of their valuable storage space. The bags can be inflated by a valve similar to a vehicle, or it can have a self inflating mechanism similar to an inflatable life boat. This means a substantial savings in time to assemble the equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates, in general, to lifesaving equipment, and, in 
particular, to equipment which can be used to rescue a person who has 
fallen through the ice. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
In the prior art various types of lifesaving equipment has been proposed. 
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,257 discloses an apparatus for rescuing a 
person who has fallen through the ice, comprising a series of slabs 
flexibly connected together to form a long mat which can be unrolled unto 
the ice to reach a person off shore. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,786 discloses a portable floating apparatus having a 
plurality of platforms hinged together, so that the platforms can be 
extended to form an extendible bridge. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,764 discloses an inflatable flotation bag that can be 
attached to a ladder in order to extend the ladder out onto the ice. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,590 discloses a bridge set which can be rolled across 
an obstacle, such as a river, to form an extended bridge assembly. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,114 discloses an inflatable tube which can be extended 
onto the ice to rescue a person who has fallen through the ice. 
All of the prior art devices suffer major drawbacks which the present 
invention is designed to overcome. The principal drawback is the amount of 
space required to store the prior art devices. Rescue squads need a device 
which will not be bulky or consume an inordinate amount of space in their 
rescue vehicles. Also, it should be capable of being assembled quickly, 
since in most rescue operations time is of the essence, and can mean the 
difference between life and death. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention utilizes an inflatable bag which can be attached to 
an ordinary ladder quickly and easily. Also, the bag can be used to secure 
multiple ladders together, thereby extending the distance a rescue team 
can go in order to rescue a victim. Also, since most fire department 
rescue teams already have ladders attached to their vehicles, the 
inflatable bags will not take up much of their valuable storage space when 
deflated. The bags can be inflated by a valve similar to the valve on a 
vehicle tire, or it can have a self inflating mechanism similar to an 
inflatable life boat. This means a substantial savings in time to assemble 
the equipment. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a life saving device 
which can be used to rescue a person who has fallen through the ice. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a life saving device 
which can be easily and quickly assembled. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a life saving device 
which rescue squads can add to their equipment store without taking up 
valuable storage space.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows a typical 
rescue scene where a person 13 has fallen through the ice. It should be 
noted that although the invention is shown in an ice rescue, it could also 
be used where a person has become stranded in open water close to shore. 
Since the bags 4 when inflated will float, they are capable of holding the 
ladder or ladders on top of the water in order to reach a victim. FIG. 1 
shows rescuers R utilizing the present invention to reach the person 13 
who has fallen through the ice. In this instance two ladders 2 and 3 have 
been secured together by an inflatable bag 4 of the present invention. A 
second bag 4 has been attached to one end of the ladder 2 in order to 
guide the end of the ladder toward the victim. Also, guide lines 6 can be 
attached to ladder 2 to help guide the ladders in the direction of the 
victim. Also, a line 11 could be carried by a rescuer which would be 
secured to a boat 12 or other type of float to aid in the rescue 
It should be understood that while two ladders are shown in FIG. 1, more 
than two ladders can be secured together to reach further from shore. 
Also, since the bags or mats 4 are inflatable they will float on the 
water. Therefore, if a person is away from the edge of the ice, the lead 
ladder, with the bag 4 attached, can be pushed into the water where it 
will float in order to reach the victim. 
FIGS. 2-4 show a bag or mat 4 being attached to a ladder 2. The bag or mat 
4 will be made from a pliable and durable material such as, but not 
limited to, reinforced nylon, and has a relatively rigid upper portion 5 
which will be integrally attached to the bag 4 by any conventional means 
such as, but not limited to, vulcanizing. 
In order to attach a bag 4 to a ladder 2, the rigid portion 5 will be 
tilted, as shown in FIG. 2, in order to pass the leading edge of the rigid 
portion between two adjacent rungs 9 on the ladder. The rigid portion and 
at least a part of the bag 4 will be passed between the rungs and then 
above the rungs, until the entire rigid portion is above the rungs 9. 
Once the entire portion 5 is above the rungs, the uninflated bag will be 
pulled down until the bottom portion of the rigid portion 5 rests on the 
top of the rungs, as shown in FIG. 3. Each rigid portion 5 will have at 
least one aperture 10 which will allow the bags to be manipulated easier 
as the bag is being attached to the ladder. 
Once the bag 4 is in position it can be inflated by any conventional 
inflation means such as, but not limited to, an air valve (not shown) but 
which is similar to a tire valve or, a compressed air cylinder (also not 
shown) which can be either built into the bag or can be a separate device 
which can be attached to a valve on the bag. 
As the bag inflates it will be securely attached to the ladder. The rigid 
portion 5 will be too large to pass back through the ladder rungs without 
being tilted, as shown in FIG. 2, and the inflated bag, when inflated, 
will be firmly pressed against the bottom of the ladder which will firmly 
wedge the bag in place. 
In addition the bag 4 can be used to secure two or more ladders together as 
shown in FIG. 7. The rigid portion 5 of the bag 4 will be passed through 
the first ladder 3 in the same manner as shown in FIG. 2. Then the rigid 
portion 5 of the bag 4 will be passed through the second ladder 2, and 
then the bag will be inflated. As the bag inflates, it will pull the 
ladders together and firmly secure them to each other. This will present a 
stable platform for rescuers to work from in order to reach a victim. 
Also, this application, i.e. securing multiple ladders together, will 
allow rescue workers to quickly and easily secure multiple ladders 
together in order to reach victims who are a great distance from shore. 
In order to increase the stability of many ladders being attached together 
the rescue workers can attach a Velcro wrap around two rungs of adjacent 
ladders as shown in FIG. 8. Then when the bag 4 is attached to the 
ladders, the resulting structure will present a firm and stable platform 
from which a victim can be rescued. 
Also, as shown in FIGS. 4-7, the bag or mat 4 can be attached with handles 
8 which will give the victim, and if necessary, the rescuers something 
that can be easily grabbed during a rescue operation. Although the handles 
8 are shown as loops in the figures, it should be understood that this is 
for illustration purposes only, and any shape of handle can be used 
without departing from the scope of the invention. 
Although the ladder bridge mat and the method of using the same according 
to the present invention has been described in the foregoing specification 
with considerable details, it is to be understood that modifications may 
be made to the invention which do not exceed the scope of the appended 
claims and modified forms of the present invention done by others skilled 
in the art to which the invention pertains will be considered 
infringements of this invention when those modified forms fall within the 
claimed scope of this invention.