Emergencies are unpredictable and are continuously happening at senior care facilities. As a caregiver, it can feel like you are constantly reacting to emergencies. From falls, to medical conditions and potential environmental threats, it’s hard to keep your emergency plan and equipment up to date.
Thankfully, evacuation chairs are the perfect solution for an emergency, as they require no installation and are quick and efficient to use. While there are many brands on the market, we’ve created a handy list to help you purchase the best chair for your facility. Here’s what to look out for when purchasing several for your assisted living facility.
Why Your Care Facility Needs Emergency Evacuation Chairs
Every nursing home and care facility in the US needs an emergency preparedness plan. This plan must facilitate safe evacuation of all residents in a timely manner, and mandate that all staff have relevant training. If you don’t have an emergency preparedness plan, read our blog to get started.
Evacuation chairs can help you create a safe evacuation plan for your care home. Due to mobility issues and health concerns, very few of your residents will be able to evacuate themselves quickly, if at all. Evacuation chairs are easy to use and designed to evacuate non-ambulatory persons, while ensuring the safety of the transporter.
The elderly tend to be more accident-prone. To avoid injuries to your residents, read our blog on stair safety for the elderly.
5 Things To Know When Considering Your Evac Chair Options
While there are many makes and models on the market, they’re not all equal. Below are 5 factors to consider for your senior care facility before making your final purchase.
1. Your evacuation chair needs to be versatile.
Your solution needs to be able to move elderly people quickly and safely during any type of emergency, regardless of their mobility impairment. Permanently installed stair chairs can be rendered useless during emergencies. Not only do permanent stair chairs need power, they usually do not have any safety restraints and can only assist one user at a time. Owning multiple evac chairs can allow for safe removal of more than one resident at the same time. Meanwhile, alternative evacuation tools don’t always cater to a range of disabilities, or may need specialist training before they can be used safely. As each care facility differs, so does their layout and terrain. Even if your facility does not have stairs, an evac chair is faster and safer than physically carrying someone. Thankfully, evacuation chairs are versatile and can easily be used by caregivers and EMTs alike.
2. Your evac chair needs to be cost-effective.
A well-made evac chair can last a lifetime if properly used and stored. As they have no additional set-up or installation they are also less likely to suffer from wear and tear. However, because you need to invest in multiple evacuation chairs for your facility, it’s essential you get your money's worth. When weighing up your options, make sure to compare their benefits and features with the prices — sometimes paying a little more is well worth it. Read more in our blog post on factors affecting emergency evacuation chair prices.
3. Find an evac chair to best suit your needs.
Some chairs are built for occasional use, while others are designed for the daily professional demands faced by first responders and emergency medical personnel. Which best suits your needs? While they’re able to carry many different weight loads, some may not be intended for everyday use. For example, the EZ Lite Evac Chair can carry a user weighing up to 350lb and is perfect for home use, while the more robust EZ Evacuation Chair can accommodate a 400lb patient and is built to withstand the rigors of daily use. Before making your choice, identify which chair will best suit your facilities needs.
4. Your evac chair needs to provide uncompromised comfort and safety.
The user of the evacuation chair should be comfortable, yet secure enough to carry. While FDA-approval is essential, you may also want to prioritize extras like headrests, safety belts, ankle restraints, an ergonomic seat and padded hand grips. This will provide comfort to the user, who will likely be experiencing high stress levels during the emergency.
5. Your evac chair needs to be easy to move and store.
Storage space can be limited in care facilities, with considerable distance between rooms. Thankfully, using evacuation chairs as your emergency solution means you’re equipped with a tool that’s easy to move around the facility, and effortless to store when not in use. Some, like our EZ Evacuation Chair, come with a rubberized tracks system to efficiently aid the transporter when using the chair down staircases. Then, when not in use, it folds up to a fraction of its size.
Can Your Care Facility Afford to be Without an Evacuation chair?
Evacuation chairs ensure fast and safe evacuation for people with a range of mobility impairments, ensuring your emergency preparedness plan includes every senior resident and meets legal requirements.
At Mobile Stairlift, we’ve developed cost-effective FDA-approved chairs that don’t compromise on user safety. Shop our EZ Evacuation Chairs and guarantee your care facilities safety.
