For a while after my Dad arrived here on the east coast, I was able to use a Multi-Lift transfer system in my sedan to move him from his wheelchair into my car. When that was no longer practical, I began to think about a wheelchair accessible van. I’d seen them everywhere, of course, but had never really looked at them in detail, so I began by going back to the dealer who had sold me the Multi-Lift.
Before I went, though, I made a mental list of what I thought we needed. Dad was going to have to ride in his wheelchair, since neither one of us could transfer him from his chair to a van seat. We needed either a ramp or a lift to move him into the van, and some means of tying down the chair once it and he were inside the van. I wanted whatever we used to be simple so that it wasn’t any kind of a challenge to either of us; it was important that what energy we had got spent on the outing. I didn’t want either one of us to be worn out by the process of getting in and out of the van.
I loved the idea of the side-entry ramp I saw at the dealer. The simplicity was really appealing — pull it out from its dock in the floor, push it back in. Or buy an electric one, and make the whole process automatic.
A more realistic appraisal of the ramp’s angle suggested that this wasn’t going to be a good answer. My dad is almost twice my weight — much more when his wheelchair is added in. Pushing him up the ramp wasn’t going to be fun, and I wasn’t going to be sufficient ballast on the way down. Scratch what seemed to be an easy solution.
Eyeballing the interior of the van brought up another issue. Dad’s a tall guy, and his height is more in his torso than in his legs. I wondered how he was going to fit once we got him and chair into the van.
The next day when I popped over to Dad’s, I brought a black marker and a light plastic pole with me. (A shower rod cover, actually, from the shower curtain department somewhere.) Using a book on his head (Dad was a good sport about the whole thing), I marked the distance from the floor to the top of his head. He was using three wheel chairs at the time, so I measured all three, which turned out to be a good idea, since there was a variation of one to three inches, which later turned out to be critical.
Armed with my homemade measuring stick, I was prepared to continue my research, which will be the subject of Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 2 — At the Dealer.
The series:
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 1 — What Do We Need?
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 2 — At the Dealer
Buying a Used Acessible Van, Part 3 — The Hunt Begins
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 4 — Checking It Out
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 5 — “Disabled Dealer”
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 6 — Arranging the Sale
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 7 — The Purchase
Buying a Used Accessible Van, Part 8 — Securing the Wheelchair