Automatic Gurneys

Utility

The automatic gurney is a device that replaces traditional gurneys and surgical beds, allowing doctors and nurses to move patients easily without contact directly, and can support up to 6,000 pounds, easily handling the weight of even the largest centaur and even some subadult dragons. These heavy duty devices are able to traverse rough terrain while still remaining level and with minimum movement or jostling of the patient contained within. Under its own power, the gurney can transport a patient (albeit slowly) up to 25 miles on a single battery if other devices are not in use.
The most common usage for the device is to transport patients within hospitals that are too heavy or unstable for manual movement with a traditional gurney. Emergency rooms and surgical centers see the most use of the technology, as they allow for much more stability, less aggravation to injuries, and have significantly cut complications in high-risk cases. In particular, the device is heavily favored for neck and spine injuries, broken bones, and post surgical movement of patients.
Although significantly less common, the device was actually created for use in less developed areas and areas where moving patients is a much higher risk to their life and safety, such as disaster zones, sites of mass-death or injury, and on battlefields. Many regions that are underdeveloped and have long distances between hospitals and their patients will often make use of the device to transport high risk cases when other methods, such as ambulances or helicopters, are unavailable or impractical due to not having landing sites, paved roads, or evacuations are likely to occur.
There are, however, some shortcomings of the device- Automatic gurneys are specialized equipment that have few readily available replacement parts should it become damaged and are extremely expensive to produce due to being highly regulated. It has been noted that hospitals in developed regions oftentimes make use of them for patients that do not strictly need the device when it could potentially be better saved for emergency scenarios or extra large patients, often being attributed to laziness of staff and misappropriation of resources. Due to their large size, the gurney can also present issues in smaller hospitals where it may not be able to make use of certain doors or hallways, even if the device is necessary, requiring remodeling and renovation of a medical center to be used properly. In addition, as the device can be programed to go to predetermined locations, there have been cases of medical staff sending patients to areas unattended and causing issues such as hallway congestion, rolling over staff or other patients, or accidents such as ramming into other gurneys or structures. Unattended patient transport is strictly against the use guidelines.

Social Impact

The Automatic Gurney was created to solve numerous issues faced by hospitals, treatment centers, and field sites seeing a wide array of patients and in rough conditions.
Due to the extreme size discrepancies between the different races and different species, many hospitals faced issues of patients being too heavy or large for traditional gurneys and surgical tables to support, or for doctors and nurses to be able to move safely. Patients with extreme injuries or conditions could be further injured by attempts to move them, which posed extreme risk to their health especially when surgical sites, spine injuries, and broken bones were concerned.
The creation of the device also sought to solve issues presented by impoverished areas having little medical access and often having to make hard choices in saving a patient's life, such as no transportation being available or routes to hospitals being incredibly dangerous and rough terrain a patient might not survive through. Stabilized beds, the ability to seal a patient from the outside world, and being equip with its own IV, respirators, and life support systems mean the device can be used even in field hospitals to reduce exposure to contamination and hazards even when on the move. Although not its intended use, the device has been known for being being used as mobile burn units in hazardous conditions in the past due to being able to isolate patients from the outside environment and even function as its own surgical table if the need is presented. These capabilities have saved numerous lives and the technology is considered to be a top priority for smaller and remote medical centers to be provided with.
Overall, the technology is considered to be a massive success, even despite its shortcomings, heavily reducing death and injury for patients that might not have received quality care otherwise. Its inventors at the Tokyo Medical Technology Institute have previously stated that the invention of such a device could have prevented many deaths and injuries during the 16,287 earthquake and following tsunami, lamenting that had it been available sooner, the death toll would have likely been significantly lower, but "...late is better than never." Partnerships between the TMTI and other medical institutions seek to lower the price of the technology as well as massively upscale its availability around the world, particularly in impoverished regions as well as make drastic improvements to its current capabilities, such as adding additional medical equipment, increase maneuverability, strength, ease of use, and increase re-usability.
Additional models of the automatic gurney are planned to be produced that also take into account harsh weather conditions such as extreme heat, cold, and wet conditions such as flooding. Heaters, coolers, and humidity control could potentially allow for the device to be further used in disaster scenarios and for patients with more complex conditions, more-so than the device is already used. Burn and trauma units have expressed high hopes for auto-gurneys to be equip with far more sensitive leveling systems to keep patients stable with less direct intervention from staff, and some have also proposed plans for using the device as its own mobile ambulance at a much smaller scale and lower cost.

Inventor(s)

Tokyo's Medical Technology Institute received the Vulture's Medical Award for the invention and its further development.

Access & Availability

Relatively common in developed areas, uncommon but not unheard of elsewhere.

Complexity

Complex- Hydraulic leveling system, respirators, vital monitors, engine, battery and backup generator, IV system and medication storage, acrylic shield covering, four wheel treads, and movement controls.