Student Work

The stair chair -- improving the design of an emergency medical service device

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The project was to design a device for use on an ambulance that facilitates transport of bedridden and injured persons up and down stairs. The principles of Axiomatic Design were used to organize the functional requirements, constraints, design parameters, and the process variables. This design differs from those already in use by it's ability to allow the EMTs to face the direction they are to walk in, so they can more easily avoid obstacles and maintain proper lifting form. It is innovative in that it's the only design to use a large set of wheels in front of the center of gravity. This allows the patient to be wheeled easily by one technician over varying surfaces, while maximizing stability during loading. Improving devices such as this one is important to society because it has the potential to expedite the care of the sick and injured, and reduce the occurrrence of disabling injuries in our emergency personnel.

  • This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.
Creator
Publisher
Identifier
  • 03C007M
Advisor
Year
  • 2003
Date created
  • 2003-01-01
Resource type
Major
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Permanent link to this page: https://digital.wpi.edu/show/rj430750b