Every Dolphin FIS configuration, available to rent or to own

What all of these have in common

Every configuration is the same underlying system: a therapy surface and an AutoVector® control unit. Joerns states that the AutoVector control module monitors the support surface more than 100 times per second for patient movement or surface changes, using active feedback measurements, and that the system measures the patient’s specific anthropometric characteristics as they engage the surface to produce an individualized immersion profile that creates a near neutrally buoyant state. It adjusts itself; no one has to set it for each patient.

They share the practical details too. Mains power at 115/230 VAC, 50/60 Hz. A rechargeable battery that Joerns states provides approximately twelve hours of alternate power if the system is disconnected or the power fails. A quick CPR deflation valve. An autofirm mode for transfers and care procedures that returns to the previous setting automatically after approximately fifteen minutes. And a smooth nylon therapy pad fabric with low friction and low shear properties, breathable and moisture vapor permeable.

Joerns also gives the technology’s origin, and it is worth knowing because it explains the name: fluid immersion simulation was initially developed for the dry transport of specially trained U.S. Navy dolphins. That is Joerns’ account of where the technology came from. It is not a military endorsement and we do not present it as one.

The standard family

Three configurations share the 35-inch width and differ in depth and frame type. The standard therapy mattress is 35 by 82 by 10 inches and rated to 500 lb — the configuration most people mean when they say "a Dolphin mattress". The low-profile system is 8 inches deep rather than 10, which lowers the transfer height, and it is the only model Joerns describes as containing a foam-based safety cell to protect a patient from bottoming out in a power failure that exceeds battery life.

The V-Matt step-deck surface is 35 by 88 by 10 inches, built for step-deck bed frames, and it is the only model with the air-filled safety cell and with CairEdge, which Joerns describes as wrapping around the bed frame edge at the point of ingress and egress to provide extra padding. Those two features belong to those two models specifically; neither is a general Dolphin feature and we do not write them as one.

Bariatric and specialty configurations

The 42-inch surface is seven inches wider across than the standard at the same 82-inch length and 10-inch depth, and the same 500 lb rating. Width matters for repositioning, for a patient whose body does not fit comfortably inside 35 inches, and for caregivers working at the bedside. The 48-inch surface is the bariatric configuration and the only one Joerns rates to 1,000 lb, and it needs a frame built for that width and that load.

Beyond the beds, the same technology appears in a wheelchair cushion at 17 by 17 by 4 inches rated to 250 lb, a stretcher pad at 36 by 76 by 5 inches rated to 700 lb, a pediatric therapy mattress for patients from 5 lb to 300 lb, and crib surfaces in a US size of 29.5 by 57 by 5 inches and an international size of 28 by 50 by 4 inches. These are quoted per order rather than carrying a published band.

Renting and buying, in one sentence each

Rent when the end date is unknown, which is most of the time: a pressure injury closes on its own schedule, a flap either takes or it does not, and a monthly cost you can stop is a better match for that than a five-figure purchase you cannot undo. Buy when the need is long and predictable, or when a facility will move the same surface through many patients and wants it as an asset rather than a recurring line.

Both routes need the same information from you, and neither needs a decision today. The pricing page shows the rental bands and purchase bands together so the comparison is arithmetic rather than persuasion.