Jerry can carriage is an effective predictor of stretcher carry performance

Carrying a casualty on a stretcher is a critical task conducted in a range of occupations. To ensure that personnel have the requisite physical capacity to conduct this task, two bilateral jerry can carries were used to predict individual performance in a four-person stretcher carry. Results demonstrated a bilateral 22-kg jerry can carry (R2 = 0.59) had superior predictive ability of stretcher carry performance than a bilateral 15-kg jerry can carry (R2 = 0.46). Pre- to post-carry changes in grip endurance (p > 0.05), back?leg isometric strength (p > 0.05) and leg power (p > 0.05) were not significantly different between carry tasks. There was no significant difference in heart rate (p > 0.05) and oxygen consumption (p > 0.05) between the stretcher carry and either jerry can carry. Thus, on the basis of performance correlations and physiological measures, the 22-kg jerry can carry is an appropriate predictive assessment of four-person stretcher carriage.