Special Medical Emergency Evacuation Device (SMEED)

Applications

• Military and Commercial Significance:
• SFC Smeed invented the critical care platform specifically to lessen the discomfort of burn victims during medical transport. Enthusiastic responses from those testing his prototype convinced Smeed that the creation had greater lifesaving potential through technology transfer. The Army physical therapist refined his design through several
• prototypes, while searching for development funding that ultimately came
• from the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity. The Army subsequently patented the device and in 2002 awarded a Small Business Innovation Research contract and exclusive license agreement to Impact
• Instrumentation, Inc. of New Jersey. The company further developed the
• technology, manufacturing a commercial product now on the market.
• The U.S. military has purchased hundreds of the company’s SMEED
• platforms, currently used by medical units deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
• The commercialization exemplifies the military goal of technology transition, moving a military-designed technology to private industry for development and eventual government purchase for general military use. The SMEED solves critical problems of limited time and space typical in combat and other disaster situations. It eliminates the need to fasten uncomfortable equipment directly to Special Medical Emergency Evacuation Device (SMEED) Department of Defense U.S. Army Institute
• of Surgical Research patients and gives health care providers
• a clear view of any readout monitors on attached medical devices. As
• patients are transferred from point of injury to various care centers, delicate equipment can be quickly exchanged or added as needed. The SMEED technology expedites the evacuation of wounded soldiers, preserving lives and safeguarding military resources.