Cervical spine collar

A universal emergency cervical spine collar for fitting patients of different sizes comprising;

• a rear section designed to fit behind said patient's head and neck comprising an extension block, an upper comfort edge and a lower comfort edge, said extension block being sufficiently vertically rigid to prevent extension when said collar is fastened about said patient's neck, said upper comfort edge being sufficiently flexable to accomodate the back of said patient's head and said lower comfort edge being sufficiently flexable to accomodate said patient's upper back;
• left and right front sections each having a mandible buttress, a center support and a manubriosteral buttress, and being capable of collectively preventing substantial flexion when said collar is fastened about said neck;
• left and right chin rotation blocks located upon said left and right mandible buttresses respectively which are capable of preventing substantial rotation;
• a cricothyrotomy passage sufficiently large to permit useful access to said patient's anterior throat located below said mandible buttresses, between said center supports and above said manubriosternal buttress;
• left and right pliable sections connected to either end of said rear section which are sufficiently flexible to bend about said neck and entrap the occipital tubercles of the skull to prevent lateral flexion;
• longitudinally adjustable left and right attachment means, left inner attachment means located upon the inner side of left pliable section and left outer attachment means located upon the outer side of left side section, right inner attachment means located upon the inner side of right pliable section and right outer attachment means located upon the outer side of right side section, said left inner and outer attachment means and said right inner and outer attachment being capable of securely attaching to each other enabling said collar to firmly fit said collar about more than one said neck size.

A cervical spine collar for providing cervical spine stabilization when placed about a patient's neck comprising:

• an elongated superstructure longitudinally divided between an upper superstructure and a lower superstructure by a vertically adjustable longitudinal cavity located approximately midway along its entire length, said vertically adjustable longitudinal cavity containing a vertical adjustment means capable of affecting the height of said collar, said superstructure being comprised of a rear section, left and right pliable sections, left and right side sections and left and right front sections, and adapted to be placed about said patient's neck and fastened closely about said patient's lower head and upper torso to comfortably prevent substantial extension, flexion or lateral flexion with minimum of movement of said patient;
• said left and right front sections collectively being capable of preventing substantial flexion when said collar is fastened about said neck and each having a mandible buttress, a center support and a manubriosternal buttress which collectively define a cricothyrotomy passage sufficiently large to permit useful access to said patient's anterior throat;
• said rear section designed to fit behind said patient's head and neck to prevent substantial extension and comprised of an extension block, an upper comfort edge and a lower comfort edge, said extension block being sufficiently vertically rigid to prevent extension, said upper comfort edge being sufficiently flexible to secure and accomodate nonlinear portions of the back of said head and said lower comfort edge being sufficiently flexible to secure and accomodate the linear portions of said patient's upper back;
• said left and right pliable sections connect to either end of said rear section respectively are sufficiently flexible to permit said collar to bend preferentially at said pliable sections when bent about said neck and are curved upon their inferior surface to accomodate said patient's collar bones to trap the occipital tubercles and prevent lateral flexion;
• said left and right side sections connect said left and right pliable sections to said left and right front sections respectively.