This should turn out to be an interesting discussion. Whilst it may only concern the rescue of immovable patients!! I noticed in Haiti during the rescue work being done, that when a patient was placed on a stretcher and they were covered in a rescue blanket, a large proportion of the time, the blanket blew off. This nullified the affect of it. I have now designed a blanket that is 3.6m long and folded in half. There is a hole for the head in the middle. The parmamedic or first aiders, then put the blanket over the head. If the the patient is able to be moved, the bottom piece is now under him. In the pack, along with the blanket, is a sheet of quick release adhesive strips, that can be used to secure the top to the bottom of the blanket. it now cannot blow away. If the patient is not able to be moved then when the medic puts the blanket over the head of the patient, it is then turned 90% so that it can be tucked under the patient on both sides. Once this is done, the top is secured by the adhesive strips. Again the blanket cannot blow off. Equally the adhesive strips can be secured from the blanket to the stretcher. One of the great advatnages is that if a drip is in place, the blanket can be secured around the arm and still be in place over them. What do you think chaps?
You must be a very sad man Simon!! Why even bother to post anything if you cannot be constructive!!! This has nothing to do with the space poncho!!!!!!
Actually Alex, I disagree that this has nothing to do with the space poncho - I think the barriers to market will be very similar with the main two being life of product in storage and cost (additional barriers may also revolve around user acceptance).
My son is a member of Engineers without Frontiers and has been doing some work on emergency shelters (step up from a space blanket/poncho I know) for use in disaster areas. The factors that he has to look at are fascinating - but user acceptance is one that keeps raising its head in most unexpected ways (to the point of people prefering to cobble up their own house shaped shelter rather than use a tent shaped shelter).
you may want to research the new hospital gown being introduced here in the NHS (the design isnt much different, from description, to yours) - what are the two main drivers - user acceptance (patients and staff) and cost saving (one item replaces three existing ones).
I think you are on the wrong forum - there must be an emergency services/disaster managment one where you will get much more aposite opinion?
If you were hoping to exploit this idea commercially, you've just blown it...
I'd fix the adhesive strips to the blanket in advance, leaving a peel-off protective paper.
On the other hand, there's not much wrong with a simple 'space blanket' that a roll of sellotape wouldn't fix...
The standard polybag 'emergency bag' is intended to be used in a manner very similar to that you describe; cut a hole in the closed end for your head/breathing vent, and crawl in to the thing. It's not generally intended to be used like a sleeping bag, with head at the open end; after all, that's where you're likely to lose a lot of heat.
You can cut/tear polythene with impunity, whereas any cut to a simple polyester 'space blanket' is likely to end up with it shredding. A clean cut, round-edge hole should be fine.
