Adopt Criteria for Evaluation of Client Wheelchairs Prior to Transport

All of your organization's paratransit vehicles are equipped with a company wheelchair. However often clients are transported in their own chairs or those owned by others. While your organization requires that drivers evaluate client wheelchairs prior to transport, there is no written criteria/checklist to use as a baseline for training and onsite inspection/evaluation.

A review of injuries experienced by wheelchair passengers on paratransit vehicles indicate that the many client transport incidents occur during transit. Proper securing of the wheelchair may prevent incident/injury. When a chair is missing parts, has inadequate brakes or does not have the appropriate anchor pieces to secure it to the vehicle, there is a greater risk of injury.

We recommend adoption of an evaluation tool for assessment of client wheelchairs that can be used for training of drivers who make these decisions.