Best Practice Guideline: Transportation of People Seated in Wheelchairs, Version 2.21.
Författare
Summary, in English
Summary, key points:
Transport considerations ought to be factored into the initial phase of the wheelchair & seating assessment process.
Manufacturers of wheelchairs and seating systems should make information relating to the safe transportation of their products readily available - and easy to understand.
With the desire to provide the safest possible transport environment for wheelchair-seated passengers, and other vehicle occupants, all stakeholders must engage in a multi-disciplinary approach to ensuring transport safety; involving the wheelchair user with their families, carers, equipment prescribers, and transport providers*.
A proven crashworthy wheelchair, used in conjunction with a proven wheelchair tie-down and occupant restraint system (WTORS), is fundamental to the provision of safe transport for both people who remain seated in their wheelchairs in a motor vehicle and other vehicle occupants.
Exceptions exist on certain high-mass, low-speed urban public transport vehicles, where the likelihood of a crash situation and the severity thereof are low.
Powered and manual wheelchairs offer a large variety of seated postures through their tilt, recline, and other mechanisms. Guidelines ought to be given by manufacturers with respect to use of these mechanisms during transport.
The combination of a crashworthy seating system, that accommodates the proper fit of the occupant restraints, and a crashworthy wheelchair serve to indicate to the prescriber that the risks of equipment failure when exposed to crash conditions during transport have been reduced as far as reasonably possible.
To minimise injury risk for wheelchair occupants, prescribers shall seek to ensure that the means of attachment of the seating system to the wheelchair is suitable for use in transport. It is imperative that the manufacturer’s instructions for use and fitting instructions for seating systems are carefully adhered to.
Due to the individual nature of disability, prescribers may at times be faced with the need to work beyond manufacturers’ recommendations for the use of systems in order to maximise medical benefits, and to address the postural and functional needs of a wheelchair user. In such cases a risk management process ought to be followed, and transport providers should have a working comprehension of the relevant documented risk assessment process and understand the subsequent Risk/Benefit analysis.
When properly used, a WTORS allows the wheelchair to be well secured to the vehicle floor and the passenger in the wheelchair to benefit from a properly fitted seatbelt system.
Wheelchair manufacturers should highlight in their pre-sale literature any special requirements relating to the use of their wheelchair with WTORS. This information should include the configuration of the representative wheelchair, which was subjected to crash testing, so that informed decisions can be made with respect to wheelchair selection & configuration.
Prescriber awareness of the type of transport environment and the facilities available to assist vehicle entry and egress is highly beneficial in the risk analysis process.
Transport considerations ought to be factored into the initial phase of the wheelchair & seating assessment process.
Manufacturers of wheelchairs and seating systems should make information relating to the safe transportation of their products readily available - and easy to understand.
With the desire to provide the safest possible transport environment for wheelchair-seated passengers, and other vehicle occupants, all stakeholders must engage in a multi-disciplinary approach to ensuring transport safety; involving the wheelchair user with their families, carers, equipment prescribers, and transport providers*.
A proven crashworthy wheelchair, used in conjunction with a proven wheelchair tie-down and occupant restraint system (WTORS), is fundamental to the provision of safe transport for both people who remain seated in their wheelchairs in a motor vehicle and other vehicle occupants.
Exceptions exist on certain high-mass, low-speed urban public transport vehicles, where the likelihood of a crash situation and the severity thereof are low.
Powered and manual wheelchairs offer a large variety of seated postures through their tilt, recline, and other mechanisms. Guidelines ought to be given by manufacturers with respect to use of these mechanisms during transport.
The combination of a crashworthy seating system, that accommodates the proper fit of the occupant restraints, and a crashworthy wheelchair serve to indicate to the prescriber that the risks of equipment failure when exposed to crash conditions during transport have been reduced as far as reasonably possible.
To minimise injury risk for wheelchair occupants, prescribers shall seek to ensure that the means of attachment of the seating system to the wheelchair is suitable for use in transport. It is imperative that the manufacturer’s instructions for use and fitting instructions for seating systems are carefully adhered to.
Due to the individual nature of disability, prescribers may at times be faced with the need to work beyond manufacturers’ recommendations for the use of systems in order to maximise medical benefits, and to address the postural and functional needs of a wheelchair user. In such cases a risk management process ought to be followed, and transport providers should have a working comprehension of the relevant documented risk assessment process and understand the subsequent Risk/Benefit analysis.
When properly used, a WTORS allows the wheelchair to be well secured to the vehicle floor and the passenger in the wheelchair to benefit from a properly fitted seatbelt system.
Wheelchair manufacturers should highlight in their pre-sale literature any special requirements relating to the use of their wheelchair with WTORS. This information should include the configuration of the representative wheelchair, which was subjected to crash testing, so that informed decisions can be made with respect to wheelchair selection & configuration.
Prescriber awareness of the type of transport environment and the facilities available to assist vehicle entry and egress is highly beneficial in the risk analysis process.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2010
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
[Host publication title missing]
Dokumenttyp
Konferensbidrag
Förlag
PMG Posture and Mobility Group
Ämne
- Infrastructure Engineering
Nyckelord
- Wheelchairs
- Safety
- Vehicle Design
- WTORS
- Seating
Conference name
The 4th International Interdisciplinary Conference on Posture and Wheeled Mobility
Conference date
2010-06-07 - 2010-06-09
Conference place
SECC, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Competence Center - Traffic Environment for Older and Disabled Persons