Disabled Wheelchair Hoists

Family call for hearing over rest home death

Frustrated family members of an elderly woman who died after an accident in a Tauranga rest home remain desperate for answers more than a year later.

Lilian "Lu" Wilson, 87, died three days after a hoist used to lift her between her bed and wheelchair gave way at Cedar Manor on February 12 last year.

The collapse, which has been blamed on a faulty internal bolt, resulted in Mrs Wilson falling a metre and slamming her head on the leg of the hoist.

She never regained consciousness.

"We tried so hard to look after Mum and put her in the best possible situation - and in the end we never got to say goodbye," daughter Janice Warren told the Herald .

The pathologist's report found Mrs Wilson died of pneumonia as a complication of "severe closed head injury".

The Department of Labour investigated, but found there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Those interviewed in the inquiry said the bolt, which appeared to have been shortened, was not an obvious hazard and could not have been spotted.

Bupa New Zealand, the company that owns the rest home, says the hoist was one of three fitted with a weigh-scale when it took over the home four years ago.

It had been supplied by Auckland-based Active Rehab in 2003 and had not been checked by the company since its warranty expired in 2004.

BV Medical, the firm contracted to check the hoist, inspected the device for the first time in 2009 and though its legs were adjusted, the employee did not record any other faults.

Documents obtained by the Herald showed the department failed to ascertain who had modified the bolt, although it was inferred that a maintenance man, since deceased, may have shortened it.

Bupa chief executive Dwayne Crombie said weigh-scale hoists had since been removed and put the accident down to an "engineering design fault".

BV Medical has also brought in a new checklist process where any problems are noted with photographs and recommended changes.

Wheelchair Hoist Sex Swing making sex with a disability easy

A wheelchair hoist sex swing helps wheelchair users enhance their sex life. Tetraplegics (quadriplegics) and paraplegics often find it difficult to achieve some sexual positions. Sex after a spinal cord injury is made hard by paralysis and poor mobility. The sex aids mentioned in our wheelchair sex article raised many questions. Here we take a closer look at a wheelchair hoist sex swing

By far the majority of wheelchair hoist sex swing users are regular able bodied heterosexual couples. They can however, be of great assistance to wheelchair users with paralysis. Like those with a spinal cord injury. A wheelchair hoist sex swing may be unknown to people with a disability. Few discuss sex with wheelchair users for fear of offending, or getting offended. Also, many hold the opinion disabled people don’t, or should not, have sex. Others believe all disabled people are oversexed. These misconceptions are slowly changing. We encourage healthy discussion on wheelchair sex life and sex after spinal cord injury. We promote the many beautiful aspects of disability.