Wheelchair issues

[Jimi]

I have a small cart beside my recliner and have my vent on it and I got some parts on ebay and Amazon and mounted my computer and phone to the cart. It's on an aluminum poll and can swing out of the way for transfers or if I need to put the chair in the lift position to p

 

[Mary2]

Thanks Jimi...I have been wondering about this!

 

[Jimi]

I can take some pictures sometime when my wife is home if you need more ideas

 

[Mary2]

Thanks! I have an IV pole and I will fasten the phone to the pole as an experiment and see how my husband likes it!

 

[Tomswife]

Vans. We live in NJ. There is a wheelchair accessible van rental place. $160 per day. Rate goes down with more days rented.
We have a service, Life Ride. They come to home take you to point B. (Park, doctor, visiting, etc) and return for pickup when you arrange. Cost depends on distance. Neurologist cost $250. Pulmonologist will be $160. It will be cheaper than owning. And, since I am by myself I dont want a second car.

 

[Mary2]

I have had the battery go dead from not driving the van enough! My hope is that when it is time to sell the van that I can come close to breaking even because car prices have been so high. I read the other day that used car prices are starting to come down so maybe not!

My only thought about renting a van is the lock system. I know nothing about the tie down system. For the ez-lock system there needs to be a metal mount put on the bottom of your wheelchair for the ez-lock system to catch. I am assuming the van rentals use the tie down system. Except we had a loaner van and it had the ez-lock system.

Do there need to be special attachments on a wheel chair to use a tie down system?

 

[Tomswife]

Mary. Good question. Before renting i would go there to inspect the van. But for now i will use Life Ride.

 

[lgelb]

If there is not a lock system, in transit, there are basically shoulder belts that go through the transit loops (presuming the chair has these -- I would always include them in the order if they are not a default) on the side of the chair. How the van is set up may vary, but no one would offer a wheelchair van for rent without any belt at all.

 

[MupstateNY]

When my long-term ins. starts in Feb I will ask them if they will include the power chair or Quickie SR 45 Tilt' n' Space manual chair access in the transp. benefit, and if they can take me out of town. I find the van acquisition idea quite daunting. Also I don't understand how to get the Quickie in a car. What's the difference between using Quickie vs. power chair?

 

[lisa g]

My van has both systems depending on where the chair sits. If chair is upfront it uses the e-z lock system If chair is going to be positioned behind the driver we can use the tie downs.

 

[lgelb]

No manual chair except one that folds is going to fit in most cars, if you meant you would ride in the regular seat. And most PALS do not do well as a passenger in the car seat for long because of the loss of core strength, apart from transfer issues in and out of the car.

A wheelchair van, whether yours or someone else's, can accommodate either a manual or power chair with you in it.

 

[old dog]

I don't have a Hoyer lift, but my power chair works fine on low pile carpet and laminate flooring.

 

[Tomswife]

The issue with manual chairs is someone has to fold it and pick it up and get it into the car. When i was shopping for PALS i was limited by what I could lift. 30 lbs max.

 

[Firefighter58]

My power wheelchair works fine on all indoor surfaces.

 

[KimT]

Lisa, that sounds like a great configuration.