When fans attend sporting events, they go above and beyond to cheer for their team and be entertained.
Even though sport matches are there to provide fun for all spectators, there’s always a chance that a fan gets injured while being on the stands. While most games will go off without any trouble, some spectators might get involved into serious injuries or potentially even death.
Slipping or falling down the stands can be extremely harmful, resulting into injuries limiting the mobility. Besides that, there are chances of physical assault when there’s a combination of alcohol and spirited fans. Food poisoning, fainting or other conditions limiting your mobility might result into a situation where a spectator needs assistance to be removed from the stands.
In Belgium, the Red Cross will take care of an injured fan in such a situation. The Red Cross Flanders wanted to test new strategies to evacuate injured fans from the stands. In the past, they’ve used scoop stretchers or spine boards to remove the victim from the stand towards a point of safety.
And it was precisely this process that made it difficult for the responders to remove the victim in a safe manner. Using simply a spine board required heavy lifting which can have severe consequences to the responders’ muscles, joints and tendons. Also, it could result into dangerous situations going up or down the staircase.
After searching around on the internet, the Red Cross came across the S-CAPEPLUS Premium. Tetcon was invited for a trial. The goal was to combine the scoop stretcher with the evacuation mat. After the trial, the Red Cross was convinced that this would simplify their job and promote safe manual handling techniques.
Watch the video below to learn more:
The video and photos were made in the Bosuil Stadium, which is home to Royal Antwerp FC.