Wheel chair and car safety

I have a friend and her DD is 4yrs old. Here is a quick description of her from my friend.

"Weight is between 30-33 lbs. Length, 38-40 inches.
completely hypotonic (floppy) unless she is spastic, then she is very
strong and clenched up. But normal baseline is zero tone"

She is currently RF in a Marathon, but is out growing it. The OT suggested that if mom and dad get a wheelchair van that she can be left in the wheelchair, since it can hook into the van. (I have attached a pic of her wheelchair)

Is it safe? I believe that the crash forces will be the same and such a medically fragile child should be RF as long as possible. I was thinking the Radian TXSL.

Any thoughts and or experience?

With how small she is now, I would recommend keeping her in some sort of carseat, the Radian would be a good choice. Once she outgrows that or becomes too heavy/cumbersome for the parents to transfer from wheelchair to carseat, then a transport rated wheelchair is a fine option. The wheelchair will have specific tiedown points and they can have a NHTSA approved van modification shop install a proper tiedown system in the van. It is possible that the wheelchair will face the rear of the van as well, when that time comes.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I see tiedown brackets on the wheelchair she has. That being said, unless you have a "docking station" set-up (there is a specific name for it that I can't remember at the moment and I don't have my SN book handy) where the chair rolls onto a connector that grabs it, securing a wheelchair for car transport is much more of a hassle than transferring the child. You have to tie down the chair at 4 points AND still use a vehicle seatbelt to secure the child.

I don't have any input on the actual wheelchair issue, but wanted to add the Shaunam has found the MyRide to be an excellent RF seat for her low-tone DD. (I believe she has CP, among other issues.) Your friend's little girl would most definitely be under the 40 lb. weight limit, and if she's got room in the MA, she's probably got a similar amount of room left in the MyRide.

I wonder who her wheel chair would be secure in the vehicle. But I do think a rf is probably best for her since we don't know much about performance, crash dynamics, etc. of the wheel chair. I'm thinking the My Ride too because it's just wider than the XT, eventhough it has rf limit of 5 lbs less than the XT. But she seems small and her growth rate is probably isn't going to reach the 40 lbs limit too quickly.

Some wheelchairs can be tied down rear-facing. That may be an option. So see if theirs can and go from there. We have a Kimba and you use tie-downs and do not need to use the vehicle belt so it can face either direction.

Is she outgrowing the marathon by height as well as weight? If she still has room to grow in height, I would suggest a my ride. A radian will likely not be supportive enough through the torso area and it's also great for ff'ing zero tone kids (Charlie sits beautifully ff'ing in it).

I think rf'ing is beneficial at any age of course, but it's not something I would continue to worry about as she gets older. She's low tone, but we all know muscle tone doesn't determine whether or not ff'ing is safe. Her spine is likely developed typically for her age, if her problems are primarily neurological. So while it seems like it may be completely dangerous because she's floppy, it's really no different than when a typical 4 year old is in an accident while sleeping.

Bottom line, if you can keep her rf'ing in her wheelchair or in a nice, supportive seat, that's great, but it's equally important to find a solution that works for the whole family. It is getting VERY difficult to get Charlie in and out of her MR rf'ing and she's only 2! She's long and floppy and I usually bump her head or one of her feet will catch on the frame of the car and twist her leg in an awkward position. Focus on the child and family as a whole, not just "we have to keep her rf'ing".

safeinthecar said:

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I see tiedown brackets on the wheelchair she has. That being said, unless you have a "docking station" set-up (there is a specific name for it that I can't remember at the moment and I don't have my SN book handy) where the chair rolls onto a connector that grabs it, securing a wheelchair for car transport is much more of a hassle than transferring the child. You have to tie down the chair at 4 points AND still use a vehicle seatbelt to secure the child.

Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

It is (obviously) less safe to be transported in a w/c than in a CR. The recommendation is to continue to transport a child in a CR for as long as possible. The decision point for using CR or w/c van, as stated above, comes when transfer in/out of CR becomes too difficult or dangerous for caregivers.

I have experience using both docking station and two different tie downs systems and all are a PIA. The docking station has to be precisely lined up with the lock in order to be secured. This is not easy in the confines of a mini van with even a small, elementary age/size child & chair. Attaching and tightening four straps and a seat belt is not a fun or fast activity either. In some ways, it's similar to repeatedly transferring a CR between vehicles - you get in a hurry and get sloppy (especially when the weather is yucky).

BTW - I'm not aware of ANY w/c that allows transport w/o using the vehicle seatbelt. There may be a choice between a chair that is transport approved and one that is not. Approved chairs must meet the WC 19 requirements. The w/c harness is for support (keep child in position, with correct alignment), and is not crash worthy or included in the WC 19 requirements.
http://www.travelsafer.org/stepbystep.shtml

Keep in mind also that the acquisition of a w/c accessible van is not a quick process AND the family probably will want/need an appropriate CR even with a w/c van for when the van needs service or repair and/or the family flys.

I like the idea of a My Ride, but I also don't think using the MA FF would be a bad option, depending on how she fits/travels in the seat. Since her tone is low, she's going to have trouble with head support whether or not she is RFing. If her tone fluctuates to rigid, RF might be an option much longer since it will be difficult to "fold" her into a RFing seat as she gets longer.