Generally speaking, these senior transportation services are more suited to helping people who are slightly more immobile than the rest of the population.  I’m sure we’ve all seen, and felt sorry for, an older person who is struggling to get off a bus (usually with some kind soul helping out) but with everyone huffing and puffing about the time taken to do so.  This behaviour by ‘the masses’  is, and will be, around for much time.  So will the high steps to get on and off the bus to begin with.

Most forms of transport that cater for seniors have wider doors, seats and some have air suspension that lower the bus to the ground when people get on and off.  One thing that is hugely important is that everyone on that bus is in the same situation and there certainly wont be anyone complaining about the time taken to get through the door.  An added bonus is that the driver will have been employed to drive the minibus or transport because of a decent, relaxed and helpful mannerism.

The specialist kind of non-emergency transport usually has to be booked through an agency and is date, time and distance specific. You have willl have to provide details of the immobile client with regards to wheelchair or stretcher uses, their height and weight. If your loved one is medically stable but requires medication to be close at hand or needs a care provider to escort them most transport services are closely aligned with senior care provider agencies so they can help with your needs.

For non-emergency senior transportation services, they can be found through your local church, charities provide transport to their centers where they usually have activites, the local Town Hall will either have information or have their own transport, shopping centers or malls can provide means of transport as well.

Shops, restaraunts, parks, museums, airports, etc, all cater for people with limited mobility.  So, the problem isn’t with what to do or see, the problem is now how to get there.

Various companies offer wheelchair and stretcher transportation.  This normally involves a highly modified vehicle.  To start with there will be a way for the wheelchair or stretcher to be loaded easily into the interior of the vehicle – if you are considering hiring a service to transport and assist a loved one this would be a good question to ask – a lift is the usual means.

The van will have a good sized wide body for ease of access for the individual and once inside there will need to be enough room for a caregiver (professional, family or friend) to move around the client to assure comfort and safety.  obviously some good head room here will help the caregiver more than your loved one.

Where are you and what season is it? Is the transport suitably equipped to deal with the extremes of heat or cold during winter or summer? A good heater and a comfort blanket is essential and the opposite is air-conditioning and some sun shades on the window next to the passenger.

You are now in the vehicle, the wheelchair or stretcher is in and secure, your loved one is comfortable. Let us now look at the driver. Is he familiar with the vehicle he is driving, the size, power and handling? Has he the latest up-to-date CPR/first aid certificates? Is he polite and courteous (you are after all paying for a service!)? Was he on time and knows where he is going?

So…. now we have places to go and things to see and do for our immobile loved ones and also we have a means of getting them there and back home again safely.

For more information our own wheelchair and stretcher transportation in the Sarasota, Venice, Longboat Key, Bradenton and surrounding areas please visit our Non-Emergency Transport page.

Non-Emergency Transport for Medical, Wheelchair, Stretcher and Private Transportation to:

• Admission / Discharge / Transfer to Hospitals or Facility
• Same Day Surgeries
• Out-Patient Surgery or Procedure
• Diagnostic Procedures or Treatments
• Doctors Appointments
• Airport Travel
• Shopping
• Social Appointments
• Outings with Friends or Family
• Dialysis Treatments
• Cataract Surgeries
• Chemotherapy
• Endoscopy / Colonoscopy
• Pain Management Therapy
• All others that will not allow Clients to drive

The wheelchair.  The trunk of your car might be large but the wheelchair is also heavy and oddly shaped, with bits of metal sticking out of it, ready to scratch the paintwork on the way in and rip the carpet during the journey.  Leaning over into a trunk, trying to keep the wheelchair from destroying your car, does not put you in the best position for lifting – which is back straight and knees bent.  So you risk hurting your back as well as the car.

The car is a ‘low to the ground’ mode of transport… and a four wheel drive is a ‘high off the ground’ mode of transport. Your loved one is in the wheelchair for a reason… a lack of mobility, or, they should be resting due to illness.  Climbing in and out of vehicles – whether they be high or low – isn’t a good idea and this could worsen their existing condition.

Once you have managed to get your family member or friend into the car and you are ready to turn the key ask yourself when you last had the car fully serviced and do you honestly think it would match up to the high mobility transport standards that non-emergency transport vehicles have to go through.  You can be asking yourself this whilst your loved one tries to get comfortable in seats that were not designed to have people with possible hip, back or joint problems sitting in them.

Ok, now satisfied that you are a suitable solution to a professional agency that supplies specialist vehicles for non-emergency transport you start to drive off. Your fragile passenger is requiring your help getting around for a reason…. they are not too well.  What would you do if they took a turn for the worse? When was the last time you took a first aid course or renewed your CPR certificate? Do you know what medication they are on or even the reason they are ill so you can inform the proper emergency services when they turn up to help?

Interesting points, don’t you think?

So, if you live in Sarasota, Venice, Longboat Key, Bradenton or surrounding areas contact us to see if we can help you.