MAO Manual

OVERVIEW 3 – Wheelchair Inspection

Wheelchair handles are the area from which most of the pushing, pulling, or lifting of the chair will take place. Use caution when beginning to move a chair for the first time. In some wheelchairs, the handles can be loose and come off during a critical point of a move. This can cause the MAVO to lose control of the chair and cause the patient to fall or otherwise become injured.

Arm rests on wheel chairs are sometime removable, but not always. Since arm rests can sometimes come off, they are a poor place from which to lift or maneuver a wheelchair. Make sure the patient’s arms don’t dangle from off the arm rests and get caught in the wheels where they can become injured by the moving parts.

The wheels in wheelchairs can be solid or pneumatic. In some of wheelchairs the wheels can be either worn or under-inflated, causing the brakes to engage the wheel poorly and not brake appropriately.

Leg rests are also sometimes removable in wheelchairs. When the patient sits in the chair, at the very least the foot rests should be folded out of the way so that the patient does not trip on them. When ready to move the chair, the foot/leg rests should be placed back into position, and the patient’s feet should be placed on the foot rests so that they don’t get caught under the chair and get injured.

The wheelchair frame is the only appropriate area to secure wheelchair tie downs to. It is structurally sound, non-movable, and able to withstand the strong force created by a motor vehicle collision.

Brakes on wheelchairs are mechanisms that engage the wheels and prevent them from spinning. Remember that the brakes in wheelchairs do not slow a moving wheelchair but rather prevent a stopped wheelchair from rolling unexpectedly. You should the test brakes when you first approach a new wheelchair to make sure they are reliable and can stop the chair effectively.

The crossbar is the main folding axis in a collapsable wheelchair. It allows a chair to be folded to a fraction of it’s horizontal width. Since it is a movable part of the wheelchair, you should not use the crossbar as an attachment point for tie downs when securing a wheelchair in the MAV.