Span America: Why they don’t need to be / should not be strapped to the bed
Roll-up air mattresses DO typically require straps because of their lack of weight/heft. That is not the case with PressureGuardmodels, especially when there are mattress keepers/holders on the corners of the bed, or rails. Even without these, the heft of the PressureGuard model keeps this from being an issue.
- Span-America has been selling Pressure Guard surfaces into long term care facilities for more than two decades, accounting for literally tens of thousands of surfaces in that time. In all of that time we have not experienced a single reported patient injury resulting from the mattresses not being attached to the bedframe.
- The lack of need for straps on these types of mattresses is not unique to Span-America. As the industry has moved more and more to the “air system inside a foam shell” designs due to the enhanced safety and resident safety they provide,[examples: AccuMax (Hill Rom), AtmosAir(KCI/Arjo), EqualizeAir (Medline), Isogel (Stryker), and many more] these brands have never included tie-down straps like their roll-up/air-only/mattress-in-a-bag rental product predecessors.
In addition to being unnecessary on foam shell-style air surfaces like the PressureGuard models, there are actually some practical disadvantages to tie-downs, which many facilities recognize:
- Tie down straps can make it more difficult to change out linens.
- Tie down straps can make it more difficult to clean the mattress.
- Also, if there are straps on the mattress and for some reason they are not fastened, it is one more opportunity for a surveyor to cite the facility for not following the letter of the owners manual.