Transfers & Lifting

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 causing staff injuries, lost days from work and decrease in care quality. The safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) approach advocates for patient lifts and mobility...

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 presentations. A great idea. I attended a course called “Creative Mobility Technology for Improved Outcomes” in the zone. Here we learned to get the most...

Last week I attended the Combined Section Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association. It was held in San Antonio (great choice, especially in February!) and included some excellent programming. I’d like to share highlights from one of the workshops which focused on using lift and transfer devices in schools. It was presented by therapists from four large school districts. Each district...

Whether assisting someone from a wheelchair to a mat table or the parallel bars, patient transfers are a routine part of all therapy interventions. But did you know that these transfers place a therapist at an extraordinary risk for work-related injury? Statistics show that caregivers engaging in manual patient lifting, transferring and repositioning activities beyond the 35-lb patient lifting maximum set...

Since our newest items, the Rifton TRAM and the New Pacer both have the capacity to support walking practice and have similar prompts, including arm prompts, trunk support, and walking saddle, therapists often wonder which to choose for ambulation or gait training. Because the TRAM does a lot more than gait training – it’s a three-in-one device that combines sit-to-sit...

For children with complex disabilities the transition from school to adult services can be brutal: therapy and equipment that is considered standard in the school suddenly disappears, funding evaporates, and families struggle to bridge the gap. But this is slowly changing. Many healthcare facilities now try to provide a seamless transition into this new stage of life with specialized and comprehensive...

Safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) as a discipline is gaining momentum not only in hospitals and rehab facilities but in schools as well. High Desert Education Service District, based in Redmond, Oregon, serving multiple districts across a large area, recently implemented a new SPHM policy.  Recently Rifton spoke with Jill Barrett about the importance of safe patient handling in schools.  ...

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 transfer device. She quotes therapist Margaret Arnold on how the TRAM is helping people with a multitude of disorders or conditions, and tells the story of a brain injury...

Jim Bennett formed his company to help people stay in their homes longer and more safely. Originally serving the greater Phoenix area, ADL Solutions has since expanded to serve clients statewide and even further afield. Because ADL has been supplying so many TRAMs to their clients we wanted to find out more about Jim’s operations and how his clients were benefitting from the TRAM. What are the most...

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 “zero-lift” safe patient handling (SPH) policies requiring the use of mechanical lifts for all patient transfer and positioning tasks. The results have been...