Peripheral edema is a common problem in patients with congestive heart failure. Not only can edema be painful, but it can predispose to blood clots and can interfere with tissue perfusion. Elevating a patient's legs makes use of gravity to aid in pulling blood back to the heart. While this intervention may make the patient more comfortable, it is not primarily used for pain control. Likewise, this invention does not reduce blood coagulation—sequential compression devices or subcutaneous heparin is used for this purpose. While elevating the extremities may decrease arterial blood flow to the lower extremities because the heart must pump against gravity, this is not the primary reason to perform this intervention. In fact, if tissue perfusion is compromised, the patient's legs should not be elevated so as to decrease arterial blood flow.