Despite changes to protective equipment and on-field safety rules, injuries still happen in football on a regular basis. According to the National Center for Sports Safety, football placed second in the nation in most injuries in 2001, behind only basketball. When a player is injured on the field, depending on the severity of the injury, a gurney may be wheeled out to get the player off the field with as little physical trauma as possible.
Functionality
Gurneys are essentially technologically advanced versions of stretchers. Gurneys are flat stretcher-like beds with straps on either side. They roll on collapsible legs. Gurneys are traditionally used by medical personnel to transport injured patients from the scene of the injury into an ambulance, and from the ambulance into a hospital. Gurneys can be adjusted to put the injured person in a sitting position, or adjusted to an inverted angle such that the person's legs are higher than his head.
Benefits
Gurney allows medical personnel to transport injured football players without having to lift them from one spot to another several times. Some newer gurneys have automated collapsible legs, which prevent the medical personnel from having to bend down and manually lift or collapse the legs themselves. The straps keep the injured player from falling off the device. The mobility of a gurney helps not only the injured player, who can get from point A to point B faster, but also the medical personnel who reduce their chances of back injury by not having to carry a stretcher.
Uses In-Game
In football, gurneys are used to remove seriously injured, or potentially seriously injured, players from the field. When a player is injured and thought to have any kind of injury that requires full or partial immobilization, the gurney is rolled out onto the field, lowered to the lowest possible level, and the player is lifted onto the gurney from the side. Often, if a head, back, or neck injury is suspected, the player will have a neck brace put in place.
Variables
Gurneys aren't readily available in all levels for football. In some amateur leagues with less funding, traditional stretchers may be the only option to take a player off the field safely. Other variables include how technologically advanced the gurney is. Some gurneys have a built-in motor that assists the medical personnel with rolling the injured person along.
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