Medic's Guide: Usage and Installation of Splint K.E.D., Kendrick Extrication Device
Creators: name: Muhanned Aldamies
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: EMT
subject: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MKNXZTX
subject: http://www.hsacademy.org

description: A long time ago, when I was a baby EMT, I ran a nursing home call with a more experienced medic. A sweet little old lady had fallen and broken her femur, and my partner sent me back to the rig for our traction splint.<br>
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When I pulled it out of its case, it was not the familiar Hare traction splint I had been trained to use. Instead, I found a folding contraption consisting of two steel shafts, with an ischial pad on one end and a plastic crossbar fitted with an S-hook on the other. The plastic crossbar was supposed to slide up and down the shafts, engaging on little notches cut into their inner borders, thereby allowing you to attach the S-hook to an ankle hitch and pull traction with it.<br>
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The only problem was, the ankle hitch was missing and neither of us could figure out how to get the crossbar to release.<br>
So we wound up improvising an ankle hitch from a cravat, tied it to the S-hook and used a Bic pen as a Spanish windlass to pull traction. It worked just fine, but later, as I was grousing about shoddy equipment and worrying about what the ED staff would think of our Rube Goldberg traction splint, my partner grunted and gave me some of the most useful advice I’ve ever gotten: "If it looks stupid, but it works… then it ain’t stupid."<br>
The Kendrick Extrication Device (K.E.D.) is a device that is used in vehicle extrication to remove victims of traffic collisions from motor vehicles. Commonly carried on ambulances, the K.E.D. is typically applied by an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or another first responder. Typically used in conjunction with a cervical collar, the K.E.D. is a semi-rigid brace that secures the head, neck and torso in an anatomically neutral position. This position reduces the possibility of additional injuries to these regions during extrication. The original K.E.D. was designed by Richard Kendrick in 1978.<br>
Typically there are two head straps, three torso straps, and two legs straps which are used to adequately secure the K.E.D. to the victim. Unlike a long spine board or litter, the K.E.D. uses a series of wooden or polymer bars in a nylon jacket, allowing the responders to immobilize the neck and upper spine and remove the victim from the vehicle or other confined space. Although the K.E.D. can also be used to immobilize infants and children, it is preferable to use specifically designed pediatric immobilization devices whenever possible. If the K.E.D. is used to immobilize an infant or child, appropriate padding must be used to ensure complete immobilization in a manner that does not obscure the thorax and abdomen, thereby preventing continued assessment of these vital areas.<br>
Application<br>
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The device can be quickly and easily inserted into the seat of a vehicle by a single rescuer, allows access to the airway and conforms to any body size. The K.E.D. is typically used only on hemodynamically stable victims; unstable victims are extricated using rapid extrication techniques without the prior application of the K.E.D.<br>
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Once the K.E.D. is slid into position, it is secured to the victim with straps in order to prevent movement. The first strap that is secured is the middle torso strap. According to the K.E.D. users' manual securing this strap secures the greatest area of the device and therefore provides the greatest stability while securing the rest of the device. Next the bottom torso strap is secured, however the top torso strap is not secured until just prior to moving the patient to the long spine board. This is to allow the patient to breathe easily while the rest of the device is secured. Following the bottom torso strap the leg straps are secured. These may be applied in a "criss-cross" fashion (according to the K.E.D. users' manual this is the most commonly used method), or applied by securing them to their respective sides. If there is any evidence of a groin injury the "criss-cross" method cannot be used.
description: When I pulled it out of its case, it was not the familiar Hare traction splint I had been trained to use. Instead, I found a folding contraption consisting of two steel shafts, with an ischial pad on one end and a plastic crossbar fitted with an S-hook on the other. The plastic crossbar was supposed to slide up and down the shafts, engaging on little notches cut into their inner borders, thereby allowing you to attach the S-hook to an ankle hitch and pull traction with it.