Since 1932, the standard folding, self-propelled wheelchair designed for home use has seen few changes.

When individuals require something unique to fit their individual disability or sport it is usually a one-of-a-kind, made-to-order wheelchair. Since there have been few changes to what is standard since the early patent was established, specs for the chair are based on the size, height and weights of people from another era. The handles are too low for most people over 5′4″ to push comfortably and they are not adequate to hold people of today’s increasing height and weight.

While little has changed with respect to the standard wheelchair, there have been some changes within the transport chair industry. For instance, chairs designed to be pushed by an attendant have been established solely for institutional use. Hospitals and airports make use of transport chairs because they are cost effective, cut down on the rate of passenger and transport worker injury, and exhibit the kind of longevity and sustainability unseen until now.

It is likely that in the very near future, as institutions and hospitals learn about innovations in transport chair design, these chairs will outdistance the standard wheelchair in terms of use because they have addressed issues with the old-fashioned design.

Hospitals and airports have been spending 20% to 33% of their transport budget on buying extra wheelchairs annually in an effort to keep in step with the theft rate of these self-propelled vehicles. The latest transport chairs are actually theft-proof, in that they do not fold to fit into cars, they do not have any removable parts, and they cannot be moved by the person sitting in it, but must be pushed.

Some transport chair systems have their own patented holding rack onto which they can be nested and locked, and feature their own unique serial numbers which can be traced in the event of loss. All of these components make the transport chairs virtually theft-proof, which saves a great deal of expenditures for hospitals and airports.

The transport chair goes beyond the wheelchair when it comes to safety as well. Nurses, aides and transport workers have long been plagued with back pain and injury stemming from lifting and bending associated with transporting people from the old standard chairs.

The transport chair’s ergonomic features were developed to put an end to bending to adjust leg or arm rests or lifting a person on or off of it. While it has no removable parts, it has arms that lift up so that passengers can be gently pivoted onto or off of the chair. This is to prevent back injury to transport workers.

The handles on standard chairs can be something of an issue as well. Many new designs feature just one single handle, much like a shopping cart. The new positioning promotes proper posture in the attendant and affords the ability of adjusting footrests and armrests without bending.

The low maintenance, high quality transport chairs have indeed gone beyond the wheelchair. Some institutions report still having and using chairs they purchased twelve years ago.

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[tags]wheelchair, transport wheelchair, patient transportation, passenger transportation, airport transpor[/tags]