DISABILITY EQUIPMENT WHEELCHAIRS AND VICTIM ASSESSMENT

Disability equipment wheelchairs and victim assessment, choosing the right wheelchair and other disability equipment to best suit your injuries and future lifestyle

Continuing with Equipment and in particular wheelchairs.

Where they are going to be stored?

So you have bought your first powerchair. Heavy isn't it? The one we bought weighed 220lbs. There is no way you are going to lift this to an upstairs store room, spare bedroom or attic. Even some of the lighter wheelchairs, made of aluminium or titanium, will be awkward to store if they are a fixed frame wheelchair.

Start of article about victim support and rehabilitation.

Previous page about rehabilitation equipment.

Fixed framed manual wheelchairs are brilliant for pushing or sitting in and self propelling as they do not give and bend. Someone pushing you will immediately be able to tell the difference. However fixed framed wheelchairs will also cause a storage problem. Unusual types of wheelchair will also cause problems eg the tricycle type of set up or the cross country heavy duty type of mobility aid will need space to store. This now leads onto the accommodation issue where you live.

You will probably need a larger garage to help solve the storage problem. An inside storage area will also need to be considered especially if the outside storage area lends itself to additional maintenance when the temperature difference then effects the rubber ie it may rot in the cold making the rubber wheels brittle. The additional storage space will be needed for a huge number of disability related items to be stored away from the rest of the family.

This is a "must have" when it comes to storing items in your case. Apart from spare wheelchair wheels you will also have batteries that needed to be kept dry and recharged constantly. Storage was also needed for spare legs, both NHS provided and privately bought. Liners, socks for any prostheses, storage bags to carry the prostheses, boxes to pack them away when travelling and a whole host of other items. It does not take long to accumulate items that need storage, and if a wheelchair, be it NHS or private or indeed both also need storing, then you can see why a storage room is essential in our view.

How you are going to transport them?

This question leads on almost automatically from the question above. How are you going to lift a powerchair weighing 220lbs into the back of a car? You aren't are you! You may consider a ramp. We did and indeed it was quite an easy item to buy and get the powerchair into the car with. The problem arising with having a ramp was that you had to also transport the ramp in the car to get the powerchair out. Ramps are big, bigger than hoists. You must consider this fact. This might not be a problem for you as again your personal circumstances will need to be considered. They are huge when you consider them with the proportions of the car transporting them. The extra space will soon be needed for other things. We eventually had to resort to a hoist installed into the rear of the suitably sized car.

This is where your initial purchase of an adapted car needs to be considered carefully, do not buy a car too small for the job.

The Queen Elizabeth Foundation Mobility section will assess your wheelchair and driving needs. For us the driving was an urgent need. Notification to the DVLA is essential when you have had a catastrophic injury. Any insurance could be void if you have not gone through the right channels of assessment after such an injury. An assessment at the Queen Elizabeth Foundation will assist you greatly in this area. If you are not driving they will give you driving lessons to obtain a driving licence. If you are a driver they will give a confidence drive to get you back on the road after your accident.

However wheelchair assessment is a different matter in our experience. The one big let down of the wheelchair assessment was it was not permitted to use the wheelchairs to see how they drove. It may be that we were unlucky and that this is not the usual practice but if it was the usual practice then it is not good enough for anyone to spend thousands of pounds on.

You need to try the wheelchairs out and use them and compare them. The Mobility Roadshows are ideal for this purpose, remember to take your driving licence, if you have one, as you may be asked for it for some of the mobility aids and vehicles.

Now, how do you transport your new wheelchair? Consider first the space you will need for your wheelchair. Next consider the amount of seating in the car you will need. A growing family will soon require seats for their size. Children grow quickly and can outgrow their parents in their early teens. So full size seats should be in your considerations.

You may need a driver/carer to assist you on long drives. This may be necessary because of the side effects of the drugs affecting your driving abilities for these long journeys. Note that you may be well able to drive short journeys. If unable to do even this then you may need a full time carer or indeed a series of carers to assist you.

Space to transport all the luggage of family and helpers will be needed. You can see that the size of vehicle can be enormous and that is even if none of the additional problems outlined above are within your circumstances. Just to transport the wheelchair will require a suitably sized space in the rear. Consider this aspect of your transport needs carefully.

Your pre accident life style will also be a factor. Were you a scuba diver? Have you a hobby that will require the extra space in addition to your wheelchair? Lifestyle needs + wheelchair will almost certainly require a large MPV or similar type of adapted vehicle.

What other ancillary equipment will you need?

This depends on the nature of your disability. Starting with prosthetic legs you may need extra shorts to use as liners to protect your crotch area. These tuck into the top of the prosthesis to give a lining to the top of the leg. It stops the prosthesis rubbing and chafing your skin. Long handled shoe horns to assist in pushing the liners into the prosthesis and to help you put on shoes! They can also be useful to push the shoes and your socks off. We found long handled shoe horns strategically placed throughout the house and in our cars to be useful.

For wheelchair use we found a small portable ramp tied onto the back of his powerchair a useful piece of equipment. It is helpful to get over raised shop steps to get into the shop.

Since October 2004 access to shops is a right for all disabled people. However shopkeepers and especially some chains of shops have yet to adapt their premises despite having been given years to sort it out.

Ties and little hooks are useful for attaching items to the wheelchair and carrying shopping bags. How will you pump the tyres up of your wheelchair? An automatic electrical pump will also be a useful item to pump up the wheelchair tyres. Rain covers and clothing to protect from the elements is another good idea.

Useful equipment can be found in many places. Each person is different and as you live with your disability you will find solutions to many everyday problems that you face. Our advice to you is to think laterally. Think of the problem you have and find a practical solution. Any equipment you buy to sort the problem is the extra equipment you need and you should tell your reporting Occupational Therapist for inclusion in her report.

How do you access the bath? Are you a shower person? Basic needs to carry out your cleaning activities are a must have. You may find bath hoists and attachments to get into and out of the bath essential items.

A bath board is a simple piece of equipment but if you are relatively strong and able this may be all you need to access the bath. Less strong or vulnerable persons may need more sophisticated equipment. Remember your old age and periods of illness so these sophisticated items are also a must for the future.

There are ranges of baths that have integrated seats which raise and lower you into the bath. Your Rehabilitation Report should cater for such an item. In addition the space needed for such a bath for wheelchair users is such that you will need to build a specially sized room to house it. Normally these will be en suite facilities so a correctly sized bedroom next to the bathroom will need to be looked at.

Hazards.

Ramps, bars, grips and lighting to the outside of your house are essential to minimise hazards you may come across.

To minimise your back problems, especially the pain in your back, a special seat with reclining and footrest facilities might help you.

In addition substantial building works may have to be undertaken to solve these problems on a more permanent basis. This all cost money. They should all be catered for or at least alluded to so that a housing report is commissioned.

Maintaining your health after a serious accident