Finding the Right Sling for Your Needs

One of the most crucial elements of comfortable patient lifting is ensuring you have the right sling.

Recently, CHS Healthcare published a white paper on choosing the right sling.  We offered our clients excellent advice on safety as well as affordability.

In ensuring that a sling is appropriate for your needs - or for the needs of a person in care, there are three factors to weigh up:

•    The weight of the patient  - slings come in a variety of sizes to support patients - whether they be young children or bariatric patients.  One size sling does not always fit all.

•    The status of the patient - does your patient have head and trunk stability? Muscle tone? Do you you need to work around an amputation?  A range of slings exist to support patients with different levels of mobility.

•    The needs for lifting - what position is the patient in, and what position are you moving them to?Sitting to sitting? Recumbent to recumbent or sitting to recumbent?  This means looking at where you are moving them from, to where you are moving them to.

CHS Healthcare stocks a wide range of slings to meet the diverse needs of people requiring different kinds of mobility aid.  Here are just a few of the options available to you:

Our most basic sling is the general purpose sling, which is available in six sizes.  This is effective in most settings and under many circumstances when patients have some upper body control.  It has additional leg padding for comfort and is easy to fit.

For individuals who need extra comfort, we also stock a customisable Comfort Sling range in sizes small - extra-large. These can be individually fitted and modified for the individual user.  Etac Molift, famous for the portable Nomad hoist, have also designed a sling range built for comfort known as the Optimum Sling Range.

The Waverley Glen Deluxe sling range is known for it’s durability and fit.  The material is hard-wearing nylon and polyester, which dries easily if used in wet areas due to the lack of metal parts.  They also provide a good basic multipurpose sling, an excellent choice for facilities that require flexible use of their slings.

For physiotherapists we stock a range of walking slings to assist with the rehabilitation of patients with some weight-bearing ability. We also have slings appropriate for patients requiring additional head support, with sensitive skin conditions, younger patients, patients with lower limb amputations and slings specifically designed around toileting and bathing. We also stock disposable slings for the greatest control over hygiene and infection.

For more information, take a look at our full range of slings on our website.  In addition, always make sure that all staff or carers are effectively trained to use the sling you have chosen.