Sliding a Helpless Adult Across a Bed: Friction, Sheet Materials, and the Pull One Caregiver Can Sustain

On a level bed, sliding a patient of 70 kg requires 274.7 N with a cotton sheet on a cotton mattress cover, 171.7 N with a cotton sheet on plastic sheeting, 103.0 N with a smooth synthetic sheet on plastic, and 54.9 N with a low-friction pair. For a patient of 90 kg the corresponding forces are 353.2 N, 220.7 N, 132.4 N, and 70.6 N. Against a stated sustained pull of 150 N for one caregiver, only the smooth synthetic sheet on plastic and the low-friction pair bring both the 70 kg and the 90 kg patient within one caregiver's sustained pull on the level. Sliding up an incline of 20 degrees raises every force sharply: even the low-friction pair requires 286.5 N for 70 kg. Controlling a downward slide on that incline with the low-friction pair requires a restraining force of 183.2 N for 70 kg.