STS GORILLA GUARD
The STS Gorilla Guard is a training aid and a tool meant to prevent excess traction when using Slishman Traction Splints.
Treat the patient, not the numbers!
✳︎
Treat the patient, not the numbers!
✳︎
Treat the patient, not the numbers! ✳︎ Treat the patient, not the numbers! ✳︎
Not much traction is needed to help people with femur fractures.
For many years I have lived by the mantra: “Treat the patient, not the numbers.” However, for well over a century, traction splints made with heavy steel, seatbelt material, ratchets and pulleys have given the impression that it takes enormous force to make people with femur fractures feel better.
My first traction splint prototype in 1999 weighed 5 pounds and had an 8:1 mechanical advantage. But that was crazy.
Time and experience have taught us that it only takes roughly 5-15 pounds of traction to make people feel better. But since managing femur fractures may be infrequent in some settings, it’s a hard thing to teach.
So think of the STS Gorilla Guard a bit like a pneumatic pressure relief valve. It isn’t meant to show the precise amount of traction applied.
You shouldn’t use it as a gauge to “dial it to 11!”
The internal spring will bottom out at roughly 15 lbs or 7 kgs. If you feel the bump, probably you have pulled too hard.
STS Gorilla Guards are meant to protect your patients (and splints) from you. No offense. 🙂
The STS Gorilla Guard is a training aid and a tool meant to prevent excess traction when using Slishman Traction Splints.
The STS Gorilla Guard is a training aid and a tool meant to prevent excess traction when using Slishman Traction Splints.