KANSAS CITY, Mo., and BATESVILLE, Ind., April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sizewise Worldwide and The Morel Company have formed an exclusive distribution agreement for the first bariatric system of its kind that can move a patient, weighing up to 750 pounds, up in bed with the touch of a button. Until now, traditional repositioning methods have been manual, requiring multiple staff members, therefore increasing the potential risk for patient and caregiver injuries.
“This agreement will only accelerate the pace at which Hercules will become the new standard of care for patient repositioning in healthcare,” said Bill Hillenbrand, president and CEO of The Morel Company. “We are proud of how The Hercules Patient Repositioner has already provided value to patients, caregivers and hospitals, and we look forward to the larger national footprint that Sizewise can bring for this technology by offering it to customers that struggle with safe patient handling.”
“For the first time, the bed sheet becomes a transport device it effortlessly glides across the mattress, carrying the patient on top. The caregiver simply pushes a button,” said Brad Frickey, executive vice president and chief manufacturing officer for Sizewise. Traditionally, protocols for moving patients safely up in bed include a more than 13 step process according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Now, with Hercules, that process has been collapsed into one step the push of a button.
Stats & Facts
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that no caregiver should manually lift more than 35 pounds of a person’s body weight for a vertical lifting task. Musculoskeletal injury rates for clinical occupations have skyrocketed alongside rising CDC obesity rates. With more than 35,000 back and other injuries each year from lifting and moving patients, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nursing assistants experience a 208 percent incidence of injury-related lost work days compared to only 72 percent for a construction laborer.
A recent investigative series on NPR examined the major issues that Hercules helps solve. “Something as simple as a sheet and roller mechanism had Sizewise customers in awe during trials that a concept so simple had never been thought of before,” Frickey said. The Hercules Patient Repositioning System was honored as a winner in the 2014 Medical Design Excellence Awards last summer, and in 2015 is expected to “change the way hospitals move patients up in bed forever,” according to Frickey.
How it Works
Hercules, a mattress replacement system, is easy to use and is comprised of three components:
1) The head-end automated drive unit and control panel;
2) The mattress or pressure redistribution support surface;
3) The repositioning sheet, an elongated fabric that rolls up into the drive unit each time the patient is moved up in the bed.
Since the patient moves with the sheet, the risk of friction that can cause skin shear and tears is virtually eliminated and interface pressures can be relieved in a matter of seconds. The sheet is composed of a soft and comfortable fabric with a length that allows for 8 to 10 repositionings per sheet.
Sizewise will offer this groundbreaking product to all major GPOs, IDNs and VA systems nationwide, as well as individual hospitals that are challenged with safe patient handling, particularly with bariatric populations. The Morel Company manufactures and sells the standard-sized Hercules system primarily to med-surg, critical care and labor and delivery departments in hospitals.
About Sizewise Worldwide
Sizewise is a privately owned, global medical equipment manufacturer with more than 20 years of experience engineering innovative products to meet the needs of bariatric, geriatric, pediatric and standard patient populations. Produced in four U.S. manufacturing plants and supplied via more than 65 distribution centers nationwide, Sizewise offers a range of American-made specialty surfaces; intelligent bed frames and mobility equipment. Sizewise Worldwide is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. For more information about Sizewise and its products visit, www.sizewise.net or on Facebook at facebook.com/sizewise.realtherapyforrealpeople; Twitter at @Sizewise or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/sizewise.
About The Morel Company
The Morel Company, privately owned and headquartered in Batesville, Ind., was founded in 2011 to help solve the longstanding and difficult challenges associated with patient repositioning. Founder, President and CEO Bill Hillenbrand, is the inventor of The Hercules Patient Repositioning System which was recognized internationally as a Medical Design Excellence Award winner in 2014. For more information about The Morel Company and its products visit www.morelcompany.com.
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SOURCE Sizewise Worldwide
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