Previous photo Rathen State Hospital | Steam Next photo
Stryker Turning Frame

Stryker Turning Frame

This specialized hospital bed was developed by Dr. Homer Stryker in the 1940s - it gave staff the ability to position an injured patient as needed, while keeping the person immobile. More information about the Stryker Corporation can be found here.

Bookmark and Share More info
comments

Please remember that the comments posted here are not the opinions of opacity.us or its affiliates.

Stryker is also a big manufacturer of ambulance gurneys.
Larry D
Thu 06-09-2011
We used the Stryker yellow gurneys. I think the Stryker frame is still in use but it looks like a wheel now - the whole thing rotates to change the position of the patient.
TootUncommon
Thu 06-09-2011
I know this was made to do good, but why am I creep out by it
bobo miller
Fri 06-10-2011
I agree bobo it look sinister.
A D Nilsen
Fri 06-10-2011
HOLY COW - I knew they had these contraptions for car engines so they were easier to work on but I never imagined they had them for people too!
eldokid@aol.com
Fri 06-10-2011
Hehe, Stryker... Makes me think of the movie Airplane.
Mike
Fri 06-10-2011
Darn, I was thinking Airplane as well.

I see this was moved as well..
Binky
Fri 06-10-2011
Rotisserie....yikes!
Phiftybuick
Fri 06-10-2011
It was revolutionary in the treatement of people who were restrained for whatever reason, to keep turning them to prevent bed sores. They used them in acute care hospitals for people with spinal injuries...fastening them to the bed frame and turning them periodically to prevent skin shears and bed sores by redistributing pressure.
pegasus64
Fri 06-10-2011
That cracked me up Pbuick.... could roast several yard birds on that!
LucieLou
Fri 06-10-2011
Stryker seems to be a very large company now?
Ferdy
Sat 06-11-2011
Stryker is indeed a very large company with a wide range of products.
It is a name that I have grown to trust.
There are millions and millions of dollars spent every year to try and prevent bedsores. Bedsores can cause the death of fragile patients. They are areas where infection can set in and cause untold misery for the patient. We thought this bed would be a life saver. Problem was it scared the patients and it was very hard to restrain them to. If I remember correctly it had a top piece that connected to the bottom and became the "bed" the patient sandwich then rested on. Injured paients especially were terrified of this bed.
Once you "flipped" them the top moved up 10-12" so the patient could move their arms etc. Time consuming to use and costly to buy. But a stop along the way in the prevention of decubitus ulcers i e bedsores.
Claudia
Sat 06-11-2011
My first thought was medivial torture device...than I also thought: OOOOH! We can rotisserie a whole LOT of chickens on this thing lol!

Stryker...Stryker..Stryker... (SMACK) lol...

I grew up with that movie! We have it on DVD and watch it every now and then! Can you believe Leslie Nielsen is gone? He died late last year. :( He will be sorely missed as an actor!
MamaToFiveInPA
Sat 06-11-2011
Claudia, I can see how patients would be a little afraid of this thing. If I had the choice, I think I'd rather have the sores than be strapped to this contraption and spun around!
eldokid@aol.com
Mon 06-13-2011
Looks like the bed's made a track of its own. Probably trying to get out of the wheelchair's way.
sue
Wed 06-15-2011
Dr Homer's ancestors owned dark sinister castles on hilltops in Romania. He made those with an old family recipe.
autoguy
Fri 06-17-2011
Guys Stryker bed frames were often found in "modern burn care centers", I have not finished the gallery but we might see a "circolectric yet".. Mostly these beds have been replaced by modern "alternating pressure pads. On the stryker there was a hole on the top side so the patient could use the bedpan. Of course the top was rotated to the bottom. no torture at all if you have a large body surface area affected, It was/ is, much easier to rotate the patient in the frame , than to have 2 people push and pull a person with painful large body surface area burns. Claudia's information is entirely correct as well. Thanks for posting Claudia.
old Lpn
Sat 06-18-2011
I guess i will add that "repositioning" a trauma victim helps clear lung secrections and prevents pneumonia. As Lynne posted so much in the past prescription drugs helped many psych patients return home or to monitored bungalow living. For you younger folks war time often leads the way to medical advancement. Unforturnately you have a consitent healthy base of mostly healthy adults. WWII, brought us penicillin and led to modern antibiotics. During the Vietnam years we learned the granddaddy of modern burn care. The middle eastern conflicts have brought about modern care for CHI ( closed head injury). SAD to post but very true.
old Lpn
Sat 06-18-2011
Isn't it sad that people have to die and suffer (as in war-time) to advance science and medicine? I suppose that in everything we do as a people there has to be some sacrifice, but when you think of it in terms of real people who were living and had family and friends, well...it makes it a lot more depressing. I would think that some of the people who had died as we figured out how to treat burns better and treat closed head wounds better and how to treat infections way back when better would think of it as they were doing their part in helping their fellow man. That makes it a little brighter, but not much. Thanks for posting that old Lpn.

You can't be THAT old...can you? My grandma will be 90 next March...THAT is old. :)
MamaToFiveInPA
Sat 06-18-2011
Noob here. Don't know if I can post a link, so I'll do it the long way. On page 34 of the January 5, 1942 issue of LIFE magazine [if anyone wants to look], there's a picture of a contraption that might be similar to what Claudia and old Lpn have described. It's in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
sue
Mon 06-27-2011
I spent about 3 weeks in one of those. The one I was in, I lay on my tummy for 2 hours and they came and put another part on my back and turned me over. took the part I was laying on on my tummy off. After 2 more hours the came back, put the tummy part on me again and turned me over and removed the back part. I went through that every 2 hours for three weeks, Kept me from getting bed sores, though. My back was broken in a coal mine roof fall. That was almost 30 years ago, and I'm sure they still use the Stryker Frame..
Charlie
Sun 07-17-2011
pegasus64 nailed it with his description..
Charlie
Sun 07-17-2011
Man, looking at this makes me think about how much I MISSED THIS PLACE!
Nurse Hatchet
Thu 10-20-2011
*The website, ive never been to the hospital*
Nurse Hatchet
Thu 10-20-2011

Comments pertaining to real location names, methods of entering the property, promotions or advertisements, off-topic discussion and general flaming, as well as those submitted under various aliases are subject to immediate deletion and your ip address being banned from this website. By submitting your comment you agree to these terms. Visit the forum for off-topic and general discussion. To prevent your comment from being removed and to help keep this site uncluttered, please read more about comments on opacity.

Memories and stories from past employees, visitors or patients are gratefully welcomed, they help keep these places alive!

 
Previous photo Rathen State Hospital | Steam Next photo