The SAM splint was invented by Dr. Sam Scheinberg, who served as a trauma surgeon during the Vietnam War. He came up with the idea for the SAM Splint while he was playing with the silver wrapper from a stick of gum. Adapting the wrapper’s ability to be shaped and made into a curve, he came up with the structural aluminum malleable (SAM) splint. It is both compact and lightweight, which allows it to be used in a variety of settings to immobilize bones and soft tissue injuries. The device is commonly found in First Aid Kids, ambulances, and similar emergency settings. It can be molded in a variety of ways to immobilize legs, arms, and even spines, and it also has the ability to be trimmed to make smaller splints for fingers.