KENT WANG
"I don't feel good... Could I take a bath?"
“EPS”
Emergency Portable Shower Kit
Form /
Product
Role /
Designer
Domain /
Aid
Year /
2013
During a co-design research project with students from the medical devices department, I found that severely injured patients who cannot take care of themselves independently in the ICU are confronting poor hygiene conditions. Nurses have to use a hot towel to clean their bodies because these patients are unable to stand up. The idea is inspired by the concept of the inflatable pool. It helps nurses easily clean up patients' bodies when they are lying on the bed.
The EPS kit has three sub-systems: float controller, shower, and quick-dry air bed. The controller can float in the shower water. It has three functions: inflating the air, heating the air bed, and pumping the water. The turbine blades inside pump the air to inflate the air bed. When the heating wire plugs into the bed, the entire lying area will warm to regulate human body temperature. Then the controller begins to pump the water into the shower through the hose.
Click!
There is a switch on the shower head so the nurse can turn on/off the water flow.
Bathing water drains out of bed through the specially designed channel, so water will not accumulate in the bed after deflating it. EPS suits various nursing environments at a low cost. (healthcare center, senior home, field hospital, etc.) Compared to those expensive and complicated bath machines, minders only need to prepare hot water and empty buckets. By quickly setting up the EPS, they can release patients' suffering anytime and anywhere.
