Safer Automatic Wheelchair Locks

Automatic Wheelchair Wheel
Locks / Brakes Save Falls and Injuries

Help Prevent Wheelchair Falls With Automatic Brakes/Locks
Patented automatic wheelchair brakes/locks help prevent falls in wheelchair users who cannot or do not consistently lock the manual brakes on their wheelchairs. Alzheimer or dementia patients, post-stroke victims or persons on mind altering- medications are particularly susceptible to injuries due to wheelchair related falls. For these patients-the automatic wheelchair wheel locks/brakes are a must.

A product long overdue:

Physician Grady Dugas, the inventor of the automatic wheelchair locks/brakes, saw a crying need for the automatic locks/brakes while treating patients in nursing homes. “My phone was ringing often. I would go to the nursing home and there would be the patient, lying on the floor, one leg turned in and shorter than the other and the wheelchair behind him. He had broken a hip! Some patients fall repeatedly, often injuring themselves seriously getting into or out of their wheelchairs. They do not remember to engage the wheelchairs’ manual locks/brakes consistently. The wheelchairs roll away from them. Often these injuries change the quality of the rest of the patients’ lives,” said Dr. Dugas. To help these people, the wheelchair brakes need to be automatic.

Key Benefits of Automatic Wheelchair Locks / Brakes

Reduces injuries
Reduces fear of falling
Invented by a physician for his patients
Sold as a Wheelchair-Wheel Lock Unit or as a Wheel lock kit that can be retrofitted to some popular wheelchairs.
Overrides installed for easy mobility
Easily collapsible
Reduces probability of increased legal expenses in regard to wheelchair falls

The risks of falling
Each time someone transfers in and out of a wheelchair, there is a risk of falling. Some falls result in serious injury that requires long-term medical care. Often the injury permanently affects one’s quality of life.
Nearly half the patients who use wheelchairs in nursing homes have a fall each year. Of those falls, approximately eleven percent result in a serious injury such as a fractured hip. Nationally, falls from wheelchairs cost individuals and businesses billions of dollars each year. This includes costs paid by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance companies and hospitals.

The Problem is growing
Although wheelchairs have manual brakes, they are of no value if the person forgets or is unable to use them. The very act of applying the brakes before exiting a wheelchair takes two physical actions: applying the brakes, then bracing on the wheelchair’s arms. It is no wonder the incidence of falls is greater among people who have experienced strokes, have Alzheimer’s disease, or multiple sclerosis.
In addition to increased medical costs, there is also the possibility of increased legal expenses in regard to wheelchair falls. Many employers and healthcare workers have experienced this firsthand.

How the SAFER Automatic Locks / Brakes Work

The Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Locks/Brakes are controlled by weight on the seat of the wheelchair. When the chair is occupied-weight on the seat-the locks are not engaged and the user may roll about as he wishes. When the weight is lifted from the seat-the person gets up-the locks/brakes “automatically” engage, locking the wheels until the weight is applied again.

When the person lifts his weight from the wheelchair seat, spring-activated levers rise and shift fixed gear blocks into contact with gear hubs mounted on each wheel. The teeth on these blocks and hubs mesh to prevent the wheels from moving. It’s that simple. Yet, this device is highly effective in preventing falls and injury.

Overrides mounted on the handles of the wheelchair disengage the locks/brakes in order to allow attendants to move an empty chair easily.

The automatic wheelchair locks/brakes do not interfere with folding the wheelchair for storing or transporting.