I have a handicapped relative who we’d like to take on vacation. He requires a hospital bed. Any advice?
Posted: April 17th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Travel For Disabled | Tags: advice, bed., handicapped, hospital, like, relative, requires, take, vacation, we'd | 2 Comments »My father is in a wheelchair. Any experience with flying and accomodations for handicapped persons. We want to travel in the Maine/New Hampshire area.
Hi Lori! My husband is paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. Air travel is usually a pain, but can be done if you plan it well. First thing to realize is that he won’t have access to his wheelchair on the plane. The aisles are too narrow. When you get on the plane they will have him transfer to what’s called an “aisle chair” and then they’ll wheel him to your seats. The reservation people will want to put him in the bulkhead. This will put you guys in the front of the plane so it’s easier to get on and off , but the armrests of the bulkhead seats are not able to be raised. So depending on how disabled your dad is, it might be tough for him to transfer from the aisle chair into his plane seat. We always ask to be seated in the row behind the bulkhead. (Be aware that this is where they put all “special needs” passengers– including children traveling alone who need to be supervised by the stewards. This can make the trip more fun or more hellish, depending on your personality or mood.) Also, if your dad has to go to the bathroom you are out of luck. The airlines are supposed to have aisle chairs on board, but if he is so diabled that he needs a wheelchair he will probably be too weak to transfer by himself from the aisle chair into the bathroom. (Think about how small the bathrooms are.) When the plane lands they will meet you with another aisle chair and take you off of the plane and have his wheelchair in the breezeway waiting for him.
We usually try to make sure that flights aren’t too long or schedule the trip so that we change planes mid-way so that Dave can take a bathroom break.
Alert the airline that you have a special needs customer and I don’t think you’ll have a problem. It’s been our experience that airlines, rental car companies and hotels will go out of their way to help you. Would you want the bad press of giving poor service to someone who was disabled? You can always use that to your advantage if someone seems not helpful enough. Have a great trip!
WTF, rent a van or RV and drive. Thats the easiest way to do this