Mealtime Partners, Inc.

MtP Part No. 4980

Hospital Bed Clamping System - $269.95

To help both patients and hospital staff, Mealtime Partners, Inc. has developed a mounting clamp system to fit on many of the intelligent bed systems that are now being used in hospitals. Because the bed rails for many of the new beds are made of molded plastic to accommodate the electronics that make the beds so capable, clamping equipment to the rails presents a problem. The plastic begins to compress due to the clamping pressure and the clamp does not maintain its position over time. This is problematic when healthcare professionals are trying to position equipment like Sip N Puff controls for a patient. (Sip N Puff controls allow patients to perform tasks like activating a nurse call-button, turning a television on or off, changing TV channels, etc., by just using their mouth. These functions are important for patients who have limited capability to move.)

The Mealtime Partner Hospital Bed Clamping System uses both the top and bottom bed rails to distribute the clamping pressure over a much larger area than a single-point clamp. Therefore, it attaches firmly to the bed rail and, once positioned, will stay in place. It has three parts: an outer clamp body, an inner clamp body (that mates with the outer clamp body to fasten the clamp onto a bed rail), and an Attachment Holder. It is supplied with tools to facilitate attaching it to a hospital bed rail and to reorient the Attachment Holder vertically or horizontally on the outer clamp body. It is also provided with an extra long screw to accommodate attaching the Clamp to extra wide bed rails. Additionally, a Drink Tube Guide is provided with the purchase of a Hospital Bed Clamping System (which will be discussed later).

The Attachment Holder on the side of the Bed Clamp is able to firmly hold a Flex Arm (that is provided with many Sip N Puff controls). Once the end of the Flex Arm is installed in the Attachment Holder, and the thumb screw tightened, the Flex Arm can be positioned to allow the patient to easily reach the tube that activates the Sip N Puff, with their mouth. Once positioned in the Clamp, the Flex Arm will remain in position until it is moved. (The Attachment Holder can also be used to securely hold a Flex Tube to the bed and is used for that purpose in the Mealtime Partners Hospital Bed Hydration System.)

For patients who need both a Sip N Puff and a means of drinking, there is an additional function available with this Clamping System. Integrating the Hospital Bed Clamping System with the Hydration Backpack Unbottle (MtP Part No. 6556) adds a hands-free drinking capability to the Sip N Puff control Flex Arm using the Drink Tube Guide that is provided with every Hospital Bed Clamping System. To install, just remove the bite valve from the end of the drinking tube that is part of the Hydration Backpack Unbottle, slot the drinking tube through the Drinking Tube Guide and replace the bite valve in the end of the tube. Snap the two clips on the Drinking Tube Guide around the control end of the Flex Arm. This should position the Bite Valve and the Sip N Puff control side by side with a small gap between them. This allows the patient to move their mouth from one to the other without interference. Once the Drinking Tube Guide is attached to the Flex Arm, the Hydration Backpack Unbottle handle/strap should be opened and wrapped around the Clamp and Flex Arm and snapped closed. The final step to integrating these two products together is to use short lengths of Velcro to hold the Drinking Tube at the side of the Flex Arm.