Hartwell Medical Announces Release of CombiCarrier®II Scoop Backboard to EMS Market

Hartwell Medical, a leading supplier of emergency medical equipment and supplies to the EMS market, announced today the release of the CombiCarrier®II scoop backboard, the 2nd generation successor to a groundbreaking design first introduced to the EMS community in 1999.

Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB) August 25, 2008 -- Hartwell Medical (www.hartwellmedical.com), a leading supplier of [emergency medical equipment and supplies to the EMS market, announced today the release of the CombiCarrier®II scoop backboard, the 2nd generation successor to a groundbreaking design first introduced to the EMS community in 1999. The CombiCarrier II, like its predecessor, the CombiCarrier®, acts as a "2-in-1" device, serving the dual purpose of a scoop stretcher and rigid spine board (www.hartwellmedical.com/combi.html) in the field of application.

With this release, several improvements to an already stellar design were implemented. The CombiCarrier II is a full 4 pounds lighter than the first-generation CombiCarrier, sports a lower profile to ease storage and access requirements, incorporates a more ergonomic handhold design, and will accommodate a wide range of commonly used head immobilizers applied on-scene to perform full-spine immobilization.

Combining the best of both worlds, the award-winning CombiCarrier II incorporates the best features of both a scoop stretcher (www.hartwellmedical.com/combi.html) and a traditional backboard. The concave patient surface provides superior lateral support and improves the patient's sense of security. The CombiCarrier II separates completely in half, enabling easy transfer of patients with suspected hip and pelvic fractures. Sturdy material design results in a scoop-backboard that is stiffer than most traditional long boards on the market, and as an added bonus all CombiCarrier II units ship with speed-clip pins.

"We take great pride in designing and manufacturing devices and products that meet or exceed our Customers expectations," said Gary R. Williams, President and CEO of Hartwell Medical. "Hartwell Medical has a long and proud history of listening to Customer feedback, and turning those identified needs into unique, innovative, and useful product designs that deliver consistently high standards of patient care," added Willliams.

Fire, EMS and First Responder agencies and Departments struggle with both fiscal and spatial restraints on a daily basis, and must balance those restraints with a critical need to ensure that the highest standards of patient care are always delivered. The CombiCarrier II directly addresses both those needs AND restraints by delivering a single compact, lightweight, yet robust unit capable of multiple-scene and multiple application deployment. Ed Doerr, National Sales Manager for Hartwell Medical, states that "Emergency care providers asked us to go back to the drawing board and provide them with a single device that would satisfy multiple standards and requirements, while easing storage, access and retrieval issues commonly encountered in vehicles and the incident scene. Not only have we accomplished those objectives with the new design, were also saving them time and money as well."

About Hartwell Medical

Hartwell Medical is a specialty manufacturer of durable and disposable emergency medical equipment (www.hartwellmedical.com), devices and supplies to the emergency care marketplace. The company markets its products through a national network of premium EMS-First Responder dealer partner organizations to ambulance companies, fire departments, hospitals, colleges and universities throughout the world. To learn more, visit www.hartwellmedical.com.

Contact: Tom Daniels at 760-438-5500 or tdaniels @ hartwellmedical.com

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