Comments on: Burton Bike: the bicycle you hope you never see

By: Nicki

Nicki — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:22:05 +0000

No child restraint devices aren’t fun or fun looking, but parents don’t hold their kids still enough for x-rays. So as a parent and a healthcare professional, I would rather put my child through a few minutes of misery than a lifetime of cancer caused by repeated x-ray exposures because the staff couldn’t get a diagnostic film.

By: Nadia

Nadia — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:53:33 +0000

I guess you could always try explaining the procedure to the child. If they don’t understand why they’re being restrained in a weird position, my best bet for stimulus to distract them would be their parent. I remember plenty of nurses administering x rays and the such when I was a kid not telling me what they were doing, and having a mother there to translate for me made it a million times less scary. Fluffy animals and bright colours were less helpful.

By: AJ

AJ — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:32:33 +0000

Kathleen, excellent point. A better photo would resolve some of your concerns about immobilization. A child is restrained by chest and leg straps. His arms are held up into the air and restrained by two additional straps on each arm. I suppose some wriggling (?) might be possible, but little Bruce Banner isn’t going to bulge into The Hulk and go running off down the hospital corridor.

Gertie, FYI, my original Pigg-o-State article was laden with humor, but a couple years ago I apparently sickened a mother whose child used one and she really, really couldn’t appreciate the humor. It’s why this post is sorted into a category called “Unusual” now instead of “Funny.”

By: gertie

gertie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:03:13 +0000

My youngest daughter had to have a chest x-ray at two months to rule out pneumonia. She was strapped into something that looked very similar to the Pigg-O-Stat that you reviewed earlier. The hardest part was trying to comfort my (also sick) two year old. “Why did the doctors shove your sister into a Plexiglas tube and then leave her in that room to cry? That’s an excellent question, sweetie.”

I can see where a childrens’ hospital might get something like this to put patients at ease. My infant wouldn’t have been able to use it, but I can see where it would make a surreal and scary experience just a little bit easier for an older baby or toddler.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:46:31 +0000

Okay so I am confused….this is supposed to immobilize a child????? There is no way on God’s green earth that my son would sit still on a bike to take an xray (short of a straight jacket, LOL). As for the mobile, it may have held his attention when he was a few months old but now he’d be all about trying to get at it….again no immobilization.
Plus call me crazy but what is the actual purpose of the handlebars? I mean the kid is strapped to the seat, he can’t even reach them unless he has freakishly long arms. I guess they are decoration?

Instruction Manual:
Lead child to Burton Bike
Strap child in
Child is so stunned by a gazillion things going on he doesn’t notice xray taken (must have quick techs for this bike)
XRay over, child crying because he can’t play on neat toy because time is money and they need it for the next kid……
Insurance bill for fancy toy???? (OUTRAGEOUS, I’m sure.)
Honestly, I’ll stick with the old “battle axe, no nonsense, I’ve seen everything” nurse anyday….she always gets the job done with minimal fuss and disruption….no fancy gadgets needed.