I was reading a book about camping & hiking (yea I know how to read…) and it talked about an inflatable cast saying that you could walk with such a cast on because the cushion of air spread out the force all over the leg and made a good buffer between the ground and your foot.


But the book did not mention where to get these cast. I also did a search on the net and came up with nothing useful.


Do any of you have any experience with these cast (are they strong enough to walk on without developing a hole) and where can they be purchased?

I'm going to say a SAM Splint. NightHiker or paramedicpete may know.

Follow up question for NightHiker/Paramedicpete,

Only seeking an opinion :

When I get CPR qualified, what mask would be good to carry with me? Are they all pretty much the same? I saw one that contains an adult and child mask separately. Also, one that can be used for both adult and child.

I do not expect this information to be mistaken for medical advice or product endorsement.

i'd be leery of using an inflatable cast for any distance with a known leg fracture - unless it was a stable, lower leg fracture.

there are walking casts - remember tom brady pre-super bowl - but they are too bulky for edc. the inflatables are heavy plastic - think waterbed-type plastic. would wear out quickly.

depends too on how far you are going to walk. if it were a great distance i think the pain would stop you.

and the potential for further, permanent injury to the surrounding structures is too great.

IMHO i'd stabilize the suspected - hopefully not a compound (bone thru skin) fracture - and fashion a one-sided crutch, keeping the injured leg bent back at the knee and out of the way. make better time to the e.r.

If it were a true emergency and you had no other way out and you happened to be carrying a full leg air splint, then you might be able to wrap the foot in something that would keep it from shredding and walk on it if the injury wasn't too bad. Obviously, I don't think anyone would recommend it. You'd be far better off making yourself an impromptu crutch or crutches.

As for the mask, one of the more experienced folks will chime in, I'm sure. But for a First Responder you would probably carry either a collapsible mask or a folding plastic sheet with a barrier. The folding plastic ones are very compact and when stored correctly they seem durable. Don't get the cheap ones as the filter will separate from the plastic protector. Even so, I don't think they offer the protection or the utility of a collapsible face mask. That's protection for YOU, not for the victim. Most adult sized masks aren't going to work for very young children or infants. I'm just a first responder, so these things generally stay in your bag at my level. Paramedic Pete probably carries both sizes on his belt in a sturdy container.

I still have the inflatable leg cast from my days as a Ragin' SAR Animal, and it got a lot of use. They were easy to apply and usually did a minimal amount of damage to a closed fracture - I wouldn't have even considered using them on something like an open, angulated fracture. In our situations, they had one important drawback. Our victims were usually treated in the mountains and heloed down to the hospital. This meant constant and speedy adjustment to the pneumatic splint. Same problem with ground transport, although you had a little more time...

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to apply this very same air splint to my clobbered ankle, the result of an unfortunate lead fall in Joshua Tree. With the aid of the rest of the group, I was able to get myself to the ER. I never walked on the thing and I wouldn't even think of recommending such a procedure, even in my wildest dreams. IMO, your source is completely stark bonkers. I can't wait to hear what the real medical pros on this forum have to say about this.....

Oh, yes, one thing more. I don't believe air splints are recommended in current protocols. My experience and their use dates back to the 70s, which is probably why you can't easily find a source for them.

There are several kind of air-splints. There's the "air-cast" that most ER's use when you have an ankle sprain. Basically, 2 pieces of plastic connected by a piece of hard cloth under your heel. There's the real "air" splint, basically a piece of plastic with numerous tubes that roll around an extremity and immobilize it - http://galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=SI725
Then there's the vacuum splint, kind of plastic filled with beads. You wrap the fracture, pull the air out, and it hardens, due to the beads being forced together- http://galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=SI747 This seems to me most stable, and theoretically you could move the entire limb as a unit. I don't think it's strong enough to weight bear on, but as fractures go, it might be most comfortable and stable. Then again, good old cardboard and some towels can be pretty stable too if done properly.

MoBob, I don't really think there's much difference in CPR masks, except: pocket size, or keychain size. Keychain is essentially a piece of plastic with a small valve in it (of various designs). I guess this would be a "one size fits all" more than the other. The pocket size is kind of like the size of an Ambu-bag mask, but folds. You can technically use this kind on a child by flipping it backwards, so that the nose portion is over the chin, and the large part over the nose. You still get some air leakage around the chin, but you're not going to gouge the eyes out with the nose piece being too high up.

As for which is "safer," I have no idea. I carry both, never used either (on or off the job)

I've used the old air splints (long time ago) on other folks. SAM splint beats the snot out of those for just about anything. I also walked 3 days in a wilderness on a greenstick fracture of my lower leg, including fording a nasty river and I do NOT recommend the experience, but I think a sprain is even worse.

Compound fracture... send for help.

Tom

When I became an EMT, in 'bout '77 or so, my issue kit had about four diffenent air splints in them. I only used one once, on a closed fx, seemed to work OK. But there was no walking involved, just a wait for the ambulance. Then a few years later the department took them all away. No reason, they just went. Haven't seen once since.

I have done CPR more times than I care to remember, all with a pocket mask with oneway valve. Worked fine. But all victims did not make it. Not really my fault, all had major closed head injuries, thanks to not wearing a seat belt and being thrown from an overturning vehicle...

My reason for asking about these is I do some solo camping & hiking, if I ever sprained an ankle or broke one, after reading what was said in the book, I thought the air-cast may be an option worth looking into.

I carry one or the other of these on my keychains:

http://www.allmed.net/catalog/item/87/966

http://www.allmed.net/catalog/item/87/144


My 2 cents worth on air casts:
- easy to use
- effective
- bulky
- prone to cracking if stored in high heat or cold and not used for a long time
- I wouldn’t try walking very far with one on (not very durable used this way and bulk beneath foot would make walking interesting)

I would second using a SAM splint (make sure you have an appropriate ACE wrap or equivalent) (much more durable to walk on and much less bulk under foot)

Air-splints are not to be used anymore, because they apply pressure to a fracture, wich can cause more damage. Use a vacuum-splint or SAM-splint.

Cast
-Air splints have and had their place.
-they are unstable to some degree, as well as they have issues with air leakage, risk of compartment syndrome, etc,...
-walking one one........not really and option, due to risk of bursting, not to mention, no one should ever contemplate walking on a fresh fracture, unless its life or death......the risk of complications are too great.


- I fully back the infamous SAM splint, they are reliable, nearly indestructable, and work in a multitude of applications, lightweight,shall i say more?

-CPR mask
-google for Laerdal pocket mask
-top of the line/a little bulky/has a nice filter
also check micro-shield, nice alternative, decent one-way valve, no filter, yet compact and comes in a key chain case option

marduk, if that first one works, I think I'm going to have to get one of those. That looks almost as if the plastic has tape or some sticky side to seal the victim's mouth and nose. Is that the case or do you simply hold that down with your hand like you would a full-size or collapsible mask?

As for the 'splints' go with the SAM. If you have a 'base camp' (ie. a cabin), and you have the money, the vaccuum splints are fantastic.....

As for the pocket mask....new studies show that 'respirations' aren't as important as originally though. In Japan they are doing CPR with a non-rebreather mask (think of a simple face mask that provides oxygen to a breathinbg patient) on the patient while CPR is bing done. From what we've heard, they've had pretty good outcomes....Though my medical director isn't going that route yet, we have completley changed our medical guidelines....we no longer intubate a patient in arrest....basically they say to just "Pump Hard, Pump Fast and don't stop". Now we don't even check for a pulse after we defibrillate them (shock them)....we go RIGHT BACK to CPR....no stopping. We stop when someone feels a good pulse or the heart rhythm changes to something we think should give us a pulse. I don't even carry one in my vehicle anymore....

Before we start advocating that, let's see what the long term trials say - at least for professional rescuers. Though, isn't Bystander CPR going in this direction?

Not sure I'm all that thrilled with this "don't ventilate" mentality, but I'll stay off my soapbox here.

I'm not too sure about the 'don't ventillate' mentalitity either......and I'm NOT saying that there shouldn't be ANY and neither are the governing bodies...I agree that we need to see what the long term studies say.....but more and more research is showing that even that 'quick pulse check' is dropping the oxygen level far below what the brain requires.....

We haven't stopped ventilating.....yet. But remember that even if you don't have a mask.....COMPRESS THE CHEST!!!!!!!!!! My medical director allows us to administer Diprivan prehospitally and WITHOUT having to call a doctor for permission! Some of our ER doctors can't continue it's administration because the hospital requires that an Anesthesiologist administer it....so we are pretty cutting edge in our care....and he is saying...don't be so fast to get that airway....compress first.....


In college, my biochemistry professor told us of the dean of a medical school who stood up at the podium at commencement and said, "I must, on behalf of this institution, apologize, because half of what we have taught you, is wrong. I must further apologize, because no one knows which half."

Kind of sums up medicine....things change so much and so frequently, that we can barely keep up...

All the updates everyone is chatting over are AHA guidelines.(american heart.org).................as some said its everchanging,but when you really think of it...........cpr hasnt really ever changed that drastically over the past decade, you breath and compress.............

Yes...you breathe, you compress....but things HAVE changed....when I first began this there was the 'head tilt/neck lift' (yes I'm dating myself with THAT one)....and you gave 4 SLOW breaths....now its2 breaths and compress.....it use to be 80 comp/min....now you're doing 100+......and the breathing has changed....so yes you breathe and you compress.....but things have changed....a lot.