The Bera… one of the Ryan De Remer many masterpieces. Remer was a colleague and previous fellow student at Monash University, studied Industrial Design and graduated with honours. His continual drive to be the best in his field has pushed him to New York, where he now works for a top design firm.

This is one of his many masterpieces called The BERA.

Project Overview
Bera is a lightweight, compact and manoeuvrable spine board for emergency rescue in areas where a regular spine board wouldn’t be useful. Collapsing down into a backpack the rescuer wears on their back, bera is able to be out of mind and out of the way until it is needed. Bera, then slides open to form a full sized spine board to help transport patients with severe spinal and neck injuries. Bera takes the stability of a spine board, with the flexibility of a backpack, and combines them into a rescue tool like no other.

Project Brief
Bera is a lightweight, compact and manoeuvrable spine board for emergency rescue in areas where a regular spine board wouldn’t be useful. Bera takes the stability of a spine board, with the flexibility of a backpack, and combines them into a rescue tool like no other. With the three main aspects of the bera project being stability, manoeuvrability and collapsibility in a field where life and death are ultimately determined by millimetres and grams. The bera, is a lightweight alternative to the otherwise bulk and cumbersome spine boards in use today. created out of plastic moulded over an aluminium alloy skeleton the bera back can be collapsed down to a wearable backpack which is easily transported into emergency situations by rescuers without hindering their movements at all. It is only once the user is at a patient that the bera can be slid open to its full working size and a patient can be secured to it for evacuation. The bera allows patients with severe neck and spinal injuries all the support of a regular 1.8m long spine board but gives the rescuer all the flexibility to reach them quicker, easier and ultimately better equipped. Bera’s lightweight and compact design makes it a real lifesaver in the field.

Project Innovation / Need
With the bera project the aim was to produce a product into the spine board market with is flooded with bulk full sized products which are not only cumbersome to carry but also extremely limiting on the rescuer who needs to bring them into an emergency situation. Bera is a product designed for where a full sized spine board wouldn’t be able to make the cut. Therefore bera is a backpack version of a full sized spine board. Built out of plastic moulded over a sliding aluminium skeleton the bera can be transported easily and efficiently in its compact state by the rescuer, allowing them to reach patients quicker and easier than ever before. The bera can then simply be slid into its full size and display all the same stability and support of regular spine board. Bera is an innovation in that it posses the stability of a spine board but has removed the bulk, size and awkwardness involved in moving one. Bera will allow rescuers to get to patients quicker as they are not slowed down by their spine boards bulk. It will also allow rescuers to carry other more necessary tools with their now freed hands which will in turn result in more saved lives in the process. Bera is like no other spine board in the field today.

Design Challenge
The biggest design challenge with the bera project was getting all the functionality of a regular spine board whilst still being light, compact and manoeuvrable. Regular spine boards are mealy long planks of moulded plastic. It was this ridged and stable form that we were attempting to re-design into a smaller sized backpack style product. The solution lay in the design of the inner sliding mechanism. By utilizing sliding aluminium alloy core the stability of the product could be retained without having all the added bulk. The plastic outer could then be moulded over this core providing patient comfort and the desired size specifications. The final product is strong, compact and manoeuvrable solution to the problem full sized spine boards produce whist carrying them.

Sustainability
The bera project looked at sustainability in a few different dimensions. The product itself is manufactured from two recyclable materials, polyethylene and aluminium which means the product can be easily recycled post its life cycle. The product however also looked at sustainability from the angle of human sustainability, beyond that of the mere physical construction and manufacture. Bera is a product that will allow lives to be saved when they otherwise would not have been. By giving emergency workers the ability to get to areas where no other spine board could go, bera is allowing for the greatest form of sustainability, the sustainability of life itself.

View Remer’s other crazy idea and video here: Cool stories about cool people Ryan De Remer.