Guest blogger: Gordon Raney, Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) and owner of 101 Mobility of Dallas, Ft. Worth, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock. Below, Gordon shares his experiences with renting mobility equipment for loved ones over the holidays.
*CAPS Gordon Raney and his wife Jennifer
With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to forget about making sure your guests are fully accommodated. If you have a loved one that may struggle getting up the stairs or around your home, renting accessibility equipment could be just the solution you need. That’s where we come in!
At 101 Mobility, we sell, rent, and install a wide range of accessibility equipment. With 46 locations, our brand is nationally recognized as one of the best in the industry. We specialize in equipment such as stair lifts, auto lifts, vertical platform lifts, ceiling lifts, and wheelchair ramps. As a full-service provider of this equipment, we have several stair lift makes and models ready to go in our warehouses. This allows us to provide products to our clients for short and long-term rentals around the holiday season (or any time of year, should you need it!).
Key considerations when evaluating a product rental are below:
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Stair Lifts
A stair lift is certainly the easiest way to safely move someone with mobility challenges up a flight of stairs. The installation can be completed within a few hours with minimal to no permanent damage to the existing staircase and no drilling into the walls. The stair lift is attached to the treads of the stairs, so upon removal, stairs that are carpeted will hide screw holes much easier than a set of hardwood stairs. There are varying weight capacities of stair lifts, so depending on your specific needs, a little advanced planning and an in-home evaluation may be needed. Most base model stair lifts have a carrying capacity within the 300 pound range.
Wheelchair Ramps
Nearly everyone has at least a step or two to their front porch or from the driveway, preventing someone with limited mobility from visiting or safely accessing your home. A wheelchair ramp is the easiest solution. It’s a good idea to be aware of the amount of ramp needed for your particular situation. Commercial/ADA code details that for every inch of rise, there needs to be a foot of ramp. Most steps are in the 6-8 inch height range, so a person with only two steps would typically need between 12 to 16 feet of ramp for safe access. This may vary depending on whether your visitor is using a walker, manual wheelchair, or power mobility device. Your 101 Mobility representative can help you determine the appropriate ramp length needed to accommodate visitors during your in-home evaluation.
Portable wheelchair ramps, also known as “suitcase ramps,” are ramps that can easily be taken up and put down for a single time use. These ramps come in varying sizes up to 10 feet in length, so they are mostly suited for short obstructions like 1-2 steps or a street curb. Larger vertical rises can be traversed with our aluminum modular ramps. Modular ramps come in numerous shapes and sizes and can be custom configured to suit virtually any situation.
Vertical Platform Lift (also known as a VPL or porch lift)
When space is too limited for the recommended ramp length, a portable vertical platform lift may be an option and would allow someone in an occupied wheelchair to access the area. We often rent our portable vertical platform lift for situations such as weddings, conventions, graduations, and events where there is a stage. This lift can also installed next to a porch and provide the same service for a person in a scooter or wheelchair.
Patient Lifts (also known as ceiling lifts)
Patient and ceiling lifts can be assembled in a few hours and are often most useful over beds. They’re also instrumental for helping individuals transfer to/from their bed and their wheelchair. Despite the name “ceiling lift,” there are versions of overhead patient lifts that can be used without any attachment to the home. Portable “Hoyer Style” lifts are also common and can be used to transfer individuals around the home.
Wheelchair, scooter, and auto lift rentals.
Our 101 Mobility dealers around the country may also rent additional items such as wheelchairs, scooters, and auto lifts for transporting these items. Before a loved one lugs their heavy mobility equipment across the country for the holidays, check with your local 101 Mobility dealer to see if a rental option is available.
Reserve your rental today!
At 101 Mobility, we have customers reserving equipment for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas as early as the summer months. Remove any unnecessary holiday related stress by reserving your rental equipment early!
We aim to exceed our customer’s expectations and will work hard to match each request with the ideal rental unit. Unfortunately, customers that call on Christmas morning (and yes, we answer our phones then to be available for our customers’ needs) are often too late. So, as you make your holiday plans this year, be sure to consider family and friends that may need assistance traversing your porch stairs or the stairwell inside your home. Remember that your local 101 Mobility dealers can assist as you accommodate your loved ones this holiday season!
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To learn more about how to accommodate loved ones with disabilities over the holidays, check out this blog post.
Check back for more aging in place advice from CAPS and owner of 101 Mobility of Dallas Gordon Raney.
Click here to find your local 101 Mobility!
