How to Carry an Injured Person on a Litter During First Aid

When professional medical care is far away, you may have to evacuate an injured person by litter. After securing the injured person to a litter (see "How to Secure an Injured Person to a Litter"), carry the person to safety using the following steps.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Litter

1. Position one rescuer at the head to serve as leader and to monitor head and neck stability.
2. Position the other rescuers along the sides of the litter, at least two to a side, trying to keep people of roughly equal height opposite each other.
3. Grab the litter through the appropriate hand-hold. Use whichever hand is appropriate to the direction you'll be walking.
4. Lift on the leader's call: "Lift on 3 - 1, 2, 3!"
5. Adjust each rescuer's lifting height as necessary to keep the injured person level.
6. Begin moving on the leader's call: "Move on 3 - 1, 2, 3!"
7. Walk for as long as you can before resting, following the leader's calls, commands and warnings at all times. Leader: be scanning ahead for obstacles and dangers, as well as monitoring the stability of the head and neck and issuing commands as necessary to keep the injured person level.
8. Stop when necessary (to monitor injuries, to re-secure knots, or to rest): notify the leader that you need to stop and follow the leader's calls: "Stop on 3 - 1, 2, 3!" and "Down on 3 - 1, 2, 3!"
9. Attend to any injuries that require monitoring.
10. Re-secure the ropes wherever they may have come loose.
11. Readjust the padding as necessary, especially under the buttocks and under the heels, since a spine-injured person will not sense a cutoff in circulation.
12. Repeat the above steps in order when you're ready to start again.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your back straight while lifting: use your legs as the primary source of lifting strength.
• Always follow the commands of the leader; this helps minimize confusion.
• Check frequently with the injured person: monitor the level of consciousness (see "How to Assess Level of Consciousness"), ask if he or she is comfortable enough, and reassure him or her that you're on the way to safety.
• Contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross for information on first-aid classes near you.
• Contact the Wilderness Medicine Institute or the National Outdoor Leadership School for information on wilderness medicine courses and books.
• You need at least five strong adults to do this.
• Only consider this type of evacuation as a last resort, unless sufficiently trained rescuers are with you.
• Take time to plan your evacuation carefully before embarking: consider the route, the weather, how much daylight is left, and make sure you have maps accessible.
• The litter you use must be extremely firm and not subject to bending.
• If the terrain prevents keeping the injured person level, decide which end to keep higher based on the injury: the head should be higher if there is a head injury; the legs should be higher if the injured person is suffering from shock (see "How to Evaluate for Head Injury" and "How to Treat Shock").
• This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.