Patent ID: 8128065

Claim:
A method for lifting a patient, comprising providing an elongate sleeve member held in a first retracted position in a pressurized support; the pressurized support including a housing having a side wall defining an inner chamber and a leading edge region in fluid communication with the inner chamber; a sleeve member having a first open end region and a second closed end region wherein the first open end region is secured in a fluid tight relation with the leading edge region by way of installing or engaging a coupling ring portion with the side wall portion near the leading edge region and attaching the sleeve member to the coupling ring portion; removably locking the coupling ring portion with the side wall portion so that an interior of the sleeve member is in fluid communication with the inner chamber; the sleeve member having a first strap portion on one side of the second closed end region and interior to the sleeve member which is accessible in a fully deployed configuration and a second strap portion on an opposite side of the second closed end region and exterior of the sleeve member in the fully deployed configuration; arranging the sleeve member in the first retracted position to form a nested body, and arranging the nested body and the inner chamber to form at least one channel for directing pressurized fluid from the inner chamber to a region adjacent the nested body near the coupling ring portion so as to deploy a leading segment of the sleeve member from the nested body; pressurizing the inner chamber so as to cause the sleeve member to unfurl from the first retracted position on one side of a patient, along an intersection between the patient and an adjacent support surface to a second extended position wherein the leading segment is accessible on an opposite side of the patient in the fully deployed configuration; releasing the sleeve member from the pressurized support; coupling the first and second strap portions to a lifting device; and displacing the lifting device so as to lift the patient.