Three Wheelchair Transfer Techniques That Will Help Keep You Safer

When you’re disabled, you have to prioritize safety at all times. Because even though you’re still capable of a lot, you’re unfortunately not capable of everything. So if you take a tumble out of your wheelchair while alone, you could have a lot of trouble getting back up. Do you know how often emergency services are requested for lift assists? Very often.

And when you’re transferring to or from the wheelchair, safety if as important as ever. You could easily fall during this transition if you’re not careful. What are the best practices of transfers? Let’s discuss with these three techniques to keep you safe:

Major key: Stability

We can’t stress this enough. A key problem with paralysis is a lack of stability – your body’s core is weakened, or the legs can’t provide support. So stability will always be a problem for those in a wheelchair, at least on some level.

Therefore, always prioritize stability in your transfers. Is the chair wobbling? Don’t do it. Feel unsure about the wall you’re using for support? Abort the transfer. Because a lack of stability can turn into a fall very quickly.

Grab onto something!

Like you’re in an action movie during the climactic final battle. If possible, always use your arms to help you in a transfer by grabbing hold of something. In a disabled bathroom stall, this is easy – just hold the grip bars. But in other instances, try to find something sturdy to hold onto. Sometimes it will just be your wheelchair armrest or a wayward wall; just make sure you’re helping yourself out.

Use a transfer board

These things are very useful, especially if you need to transfer alone. You can use a transfer board to slide yourself into the wheelchair from your bed or another area, as long as you use it correctly. This may take a little practice, but it’s worth your time.