Abstract: A pneumatic support and transfer system particularly useful for transferring morbidly obese patients from one location such as a hospital bed to another location such as a stretcher includes a specially constructed air mattress having a soft yet stable cradle formed by a peripheral air chamber which is in continuous communication with open ended passages formed by separate fluid impervious surface panels which maintain the top and bottom surfaces of the mattress out of contact with one another when the mattress is pressurized.