Scouting, Labor Unions and other volunteer or youth groups often need community service projects to satisfy one or more requirements for advancement through their own programs. AVERT has prepared the following plans to help your CERT team develop your emergency/disaster cache while also providing volunteer and community service opportunities for others in your neighborhood. There are three different styles of long backboard and one style of short backboard presented below.

AVERT hereby grants written permission to copy and distribute the design plan pictures contained herein. Simply "right-click" your mouse over the picture and save it to your disk. AVERT makes no claims as to the adequacy of these plans for any specified or implied purpose. These plans are intended for guidance only and AVERT accepts no liability for injuries or illnesses resulting from the use of products produced from these plans. Please insure that your local emergency manager has approved the use of these plans for your project.

To begin a project, select a style from the drawings that follow. Contact your local CERT Team Leaders and Municipal Emergency Manager to register your project and determine how many units should be produced. If you are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, contact your local lumber yard and offer them the opportunity to donate materials for your project. If you are not part of a nonprofit group, ask the CERT Team Leader or the Municipal Emergency Manager to request a donation. If you still need a sponsor, but can't get a donation for your project, try contacting AVERT.

Once the project is approved, and you have received the necessary materials, gather the following tools: hammer, circular saw, jig-saw, sander, 3 inch and 2 inch paint brushes, tape measure or other ruler, framing square and a carpenter's pencil. You will also need a drop cloth or other tarp and plenty of towels for cleaning up spills. A typical Eagle Scout project might require the production of 4 Long and 2 Short Backboards, with average material costs of about $100.00 to $150.00, if no donations were obtained.

See Figure 1 (below) for a pattern that you can use to make the most use of 8 ft X 4 ft sheets of 3/4 inch thick plywood. Short Backboards are much easier to make. Simply cut out the pattern of the short backboard, sand as for a long backboard, and varnish liberally. Note that the dimensions in the figure are in inches.

The following fabrication drawing (Figure 2) was prepared by Kenneth B. Moravec. It is the simplest to produce and uses the least amount of material.

This next type (Figures 3-A & 3-B) is a bit more complicated yet offers somewhat better strength. You should also add eight (8) more hand-hold slots along the edges. These drawings use a "Find Number" (FN) inside the circles to identify parts from the parts list.

Finally, the most complicated, yet the most functional design (Figure 4-A & 4-B). This design was patterned after the metal or plastic backboards commercially produced for professional EMS or SAR Agencies. It provides extra holes located between the patient's legs for added patient safety.