E.G. Benedict's Ambulance Patient Safety Challenge
Ambulances have undergone many changes over time. These photos shows the state-of-the-art technology of 1862 and 2005.Copyright 1862 (left) U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health; 2005 (right) U.S. Navy via Wikipedia {PD}
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/digicolls/henkel/images/ambulancedrill.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MS1_on_stretcher.jpg
Students further their understanding of the engineering design process (EDP) while applying researched information on transportation technology, materials science and bioengineering. Students are given a fictional client statement (engineering challenge) and directed to follow the steps of the EDP to design prototype patient safety systems for small-size model ambulances. While following the steps of the EDP, students identify suitable materials and demonstrate two methods of representing solutions to the design challenge (scale drawings and small-scale prototypes). A successful patient safety system meets all of the project's functions and constraints, including the model patient (a raw egg) "surviving" a front-end collision test with a 1:8 ramp pitch.
The engineering design process (EDP) is a widely accepted way of arriving at a desirable solution to an identified problem. This activity guides students through the EDP as they apply basic engineering concepts to the real-world design problem of patient safety during emergency transport in ambulances. Like engineers, by combining their researched knowledge within the fields of transportation technology, material sciences and bioengineering, students design, build, test, and improve their small-scale prototypes in order to make recommendations for improving patient safety during emergency transport.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Follow the steps of the engineering design process to develop solutions to given problems.
- Explain the reasons for their design and material choices.
- Make future recommendation based on the results of prototype testing.