SURREY SCHOOLS ENSURE THERE IS NO OBSTACLE IN EDUCATION

Schools in Surrey have installed disability aids designed and manufactured by Swallow EMP to ensure all students have access to the schools’ facilities. The powered stair climbers will allow students at the secondary schools to navigate stairs to reach classrooms and provide them with quick emergency evacuation ability and are an economical alternative compared to elevators and custom wheelchair lifts.

The Super Tracs supplied to one of the schools provide portable platform lifts to allow easy movement of powered wheelchair users while the other school installed two Stair Mates that attach to manual wheelchairs as a powered wheel chair lift and stair climber. Both products are portable and can be moved to various facilities easily ensuring the student can use the aids throughout their educational career.

Fiona Jackson, Moving and Handling Advisor for Surrey schools, Strategic Risk Management Team, commented, “I am part of a team that is dedicated to ensuring education is accessible for all students across Surrey, regardless of their physical abilities. The Swallow EMP products enable our students who are wheelchair users to safely navigate stairs and fully participate in all aspects of classroom based learning alongside their peers. Not only do they allow those individuals to retain a level of independence but they ensure easy and fast evacuation of all pupils should an emergency occur. We are extremely pleased with the performance of the products.”

The Super Trac from Swallow EMP is a portable platform lift that allows the easy movement of powered and non-powered wheelchairs and some mobility scooters up and down stairs. There are two models available and the powerful dual motors can carry 200kg and 230kg respectively. The integrated tie down straps and seat belt keep the wheelchair firmly in place when manoeuvring. The students can safely use the Super Tracs with minimal assistance required, and the substantial battery life means constant charging isn’t necessary.

Similarly the Stair Mate is a portable piece of lifting equipment that allows larger passengers to traverse stairs with the guidance of a smaller attendant due to the powerful motors and one touch button operating system. Suitable for most manual wheelchairs, there are three models of the Stair Mate which can carry up to 160kg while eliminating manual handling and reducing the risk of back injury. The innovative design uses caterpillar tracks for maximum grip to be stable and self-supporting and a safety break system to ensure the users are secure and the movement process is risk free. Compact storage is made simple with detachable support handles for easy transport and a key switch restricts use to authorised persons only, ensuring the equipment is not subject to abuse through the exuberant school environment.

The disability aids offered by Swallow EMP are effective alternatives to conventional wheelchair lifts and elevators, and require much less space and minimal installation disruption. The Swallow EMP products such as the Super Trac and Stair Mate are much more cost effective to install and entail little maintenance costs while being portable allows them to be transported with the student to accommodate the mobility needs throughout their school career.

Further information is available from SwallowEMP on 0121 444 3690, by emailing info@swallowemp.com or by visiting the company’s website at www.swallowemp.com

ALL TOURISM VENUES COULD EASILY BE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE

The recent survey* of Britain’s most visited tourism venues which found that 63% are not fully wheelchair accessible, is of no surprise to SwallowEMP, the UK leaders in powered mobility and evacuation chairs.

“We come across organisations all the time which won’t provide solutions for disabled people as they don’t think they have to”, comments Julia Hampson, Director at SwallowEMP, “Unfortunately many organisations often put in the minimum for fire regulations claiming that they have an old building and don’t need to provide access, or that they don’t have any wheelchair users who use them!”.

She continues, “In our experience many businesses provide a duty of care to evacuate people from buildings and have one design of chair for downward evacuation only, expecting wheelchair users to transfer into these in an emergency.  Very few companies like ourselves have always focused on access as well as egress and cater specifically for wheelchair users.”

As the survey suggests, by providing proper access for people with disabilities, tourism businesses could help the huge 11 million population of people with disabilities and at the same time benefit  from their custom.

The same survey also found that 25% of venues did not have accessible approaches to doors, including parking areas.  This is where powered stair climbers for wheelchairs provide the ideal solution. SwallowEMP has one of the largest ranges of such equipment on the market, these products allowing a person in a wheelchair to be directly transported on a powered stair climber.  This means there is no need to transfer out of a wheelchair and one person can move people in wheelchairs both upstairs as well as downstairs.

These powered products for wheelchair users include the Stair Mate which takes standard wheelchairs, Super Trac designed for powered wheelchairs and its latest product, the LG2030 designed to hold all types of wheelchairs.

Fully powered, the LG2030 is designed to hold all types of wheelchairs and to navigate straight, curved or spiral staircases.  The product’s powerful 500W motor allows a small attendant to safely transport a larger person up and down stairways with no risk of overturning due to the equipment’s innovative weight balancing system where front and rear support wheels are automatically activated for ascent and descent.

Ideal for public and residential buildings, the LG2030 can carry a person and wheelchair of up to 180kg, is simple to operate, robust and incorporates many safety features.  The wheelchair ramps are fully extendable and the three dimensional anchoring system ensures that all types of wheelchair can be carried with fast hooking and un-hooking.

One of the other benefits of all these powered stair climbers is that they are fully portable so there is no need to have equipment permanently attached to buildings and spoiling the building’s appearance.

“One irony which we come across is where we often hire stair climbers to clients who have paid to hire a venue and then can’t access the event because there are stairs with no provisions for wheelchair users”, adds Julia Hampson.

Further information on powered stair climbers for wheelchairs and evacuation equipment is available from SwallowEMP on 0121 444 3690, emailing info@swallowemp.com or by visiting the company’s website at www.swallowemp.com