A Comparison of Methods of Cervical Immobilization Used in Patient Extrication and Transport

We radiographically studied the efficacy of seven methods of cervical immobilization used in the prehospital setting. The methods were: Philadelphia collar, Hare extrication collar, rigid plastic collar, Philadelphia collar + short board, Hare extrication collar + short board, rigid plastic collar + short board, and the short board used alone. Ninety-seven normal volunteers were randomized to one of these seven methods and each volunteer served as his or her own control. Efficacy was expressed as per cent reduction of baseline movement in the sagittal, frontal, and horizontal planes. The short-board technique appeared to be superior to all the three collars studied. The collars provided no augmentation of immobilization over that provided by the short board alone. We believe that the short-board technique described herein, which is commonly used in the prehospital setting, can be used as the standard of comparison against which newer prehospital devices can be objectively compared.