Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM)

Patient transfers are a routine part of all therapy interventions. These might involve assisting someone from a wheelchair to a mat table or parallel bars or helping a child into a gait trainer. However, these transfers put therapists and…

Use the TRAM to make transfers out of a wheelchair with fixed armrests.

The following documents have been compiled for providers, hospitals, and long-term care facilities to use in the implementation of safe patient handling and movement programs with the Rifton E-Pacer. E-Pacer Evaluation Form…

Lifting and repositioning patients is a big part of healthcare, particularly for nurses and therapists. But how we do this is changing, based on the many studies that show how lifting patients manually without assistive equipment is…

The Rifton TRAM is a versatile transfer and mobility device that can  safely support people of varying abilities and sizes. To do this effectively it’s important to position the body support low enough on the trunk, but for…

I recently attended the APTA Next Conference in Boston. A new component to this conference is the experience zone—an education space in the exhibit hall allowing presenters to draw on resources from the show floor as part of their…

You asked for an extra-large Pacer gait trainer. Today we’re happy to announce the arrival of not one but two new versions, the XL Pacer and the E-Pacer, to help you train your larger clients – and save your backs! The XL…

Who uses the TRAM? Note: The TRAM has been replaced by the E-Pacer (June 2025) The Rifton TRAM is a multi-purpose device used for sit-to-stand lifting, gait training, assisted transfers and toileting. The TRAM is used by children and…

Therapists are always looking for ways to accomplish patient transfers as simply and quickly as possible without excessive repositioning of the patient. Today we’re sharing a great hack from Jamie Haines, PT, DScPT, NCS at Central…

Gerard Dybel PT, ScD, GCS, is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. His research interests include ergonomics, injury prevention in health care workers and the…

In a profile published this month in the influential trade publication Mobility Management, staff writer Laurie Watanabe highlights the multi-tasking capabilities of the Rifton TRAM, citing its role as a gait trainer, a lift, and a…

Why Worry about Lifting? In the healthcare setting, manually lifting or transferring patients causes musculoskeletal injury for both staff and patients. As a result, many healthcare facilities have implemented “no-lift” or…