What is a HYPERLITE ?
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Christine Mahoney, JO2(SW) US NAVY
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| NAVAL BASE FREDERIKSHAVN, DENMARK – The main objective of a submarine
rescue is to save lives. One of the newest ways of accomplishing that mission in the safest means possible is the
Hyperlite.
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 And what exactly is a
Hyperlite? Senior Submarine Medical Rescue Officer U.S. Navy Commander Gary Latson said the best way to describe a Hyperlite is that it is a portable stretcher. “The Hyperlite is stored in two compact containers that are real easy to transport, plus it doesn’t weigh too much,” said
Latson. “Once it is inflated, it becomes rigid so you can place a patient
in the stretcher without worry that it will collapse.”
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 The Hyperlite was put to the test on Friday, May 24 during a medical evacuation drill. Onboard Royal Swedish Navy ship HSwMS
BELOS, during a medical drill, the Hyperlite was used to transport a manikin from the ship’s decompression chamber to a hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. “While conducting the medivac to the trauma center, we wanted to see if the Hyperlite keeps the person pressurized,” said
Latson. “This prevents the patient from suffering decompression sickness by providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Also, if the doctors can administer further medical care while in transient.”
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 The medivac from BELOS to Copenhagen was the first time the Hyperlite was used during this type of exercise.
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