TRANSPORT. SAFETY AND ECOLOGY. LOGISTICS AND MANAGEMENT
Harmful effects of vibration on patients during transportation by an ambulance car, taking into account the human biomechanical system
Man, as a mechanical system, is extremely complex and his mechanical properties readily undergo change. There is limited reliable information on the magnitude of the forces required to produce mechanical damage to the human body. Our interest in devoted to evaluation of harmful shock and vibration effects during transportation on already sick or injured patients, assessing possible health deterioration degree and developing countermeasures.
This article considers the following problems: (1) the determination of the structure and properties of the human body regarded as a mechanical as well as a biological system, (2) the effects of shock and vibration forces on this system in healthy and injured states during ambulance transportation, (3) the protection required by the system under various exposure conditions and the means by which this protection is to be achieved, and (4) tolerance criteria for shock and for vibration exposure in injured state and assessing possibilities of additional health deterioration.
This article introduces methods used for mechanical shock and vibration studies on man. Subsequent sections deal with the mechanical characteristics of the body, the effects of shock and vibration forces on man, the methods and procedures for protection against these forces, and safety criteria.