By Lori A. Wood
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“In the mid-nineties, one of my residents needed to use a wheelchair following a cardiac arrest while she was on a vacation,” says Dr. Florence Haseltine, PhD, an obstetrician- gynecologist and president of Haseltine Systems, www.haseltine.com, located in Alexandria, Virginia. “When she recovered, she had severe brain injury. Sometime around 1995, she went on a plane trip and her wheelchair got busted up. I went out to find her a container for it, thinking that there must be protective containers for wheelchairs. There weren’t any.”
Haseltine’s research told her that her friend was far from the only air traveler to have a wheelchair damaged in transit. A study by Paralyzed Veterans of Americans found that up to half of all wheelchairs transported in flight arrive damaged.
“The biggest problem is the loss of parts and the breaking of the smaller pieces,” she asserts. “The second is that chairs get scratched, and the seats and fabric get torn up. On motorized chairs, you worry about protecting the motorized unit. Bent wheels are not uncommon. In the chairs that have gel batteries that have to be disconnected, airlines sometimes reconnect them wrong and it destroys the motor. Any of these types of things can happen. Most of the damage to wheelchairs in planes isn’t so much caused by the wheelchairs bouncing around; it occurs because suitcases bounce off the wheelchair.”
To address these problems, Haseltine, along with George DeBush (who has since passed away), developed the Haseltine Flyerâ„¢, a protective case for wheelchairs. Haseltine Systems offers two models: the 504-A, also known as the Roosevelt, for most folding manual chairs and the 504-C, for chairs that don’t fold and some power chairs. The cases are made of recyclable polyethylene and foam padding, and encased by molded plastic.
“The cases don’t shift around that much, so they take the hits, instead of the wheelchair,” Haseltine says. “If people use the 504-C, though, we do recommend wrapping the control panel in bubble wrap, for additional protection. Chairs can be loaded into the cases vertically or horizontally. There are six Velcro straps to fasten it down, and you can wheel the cases around.” The cases cannot be used for most motorized chairs and scooters.
“The cases are big, and the size shocks people when they see them,” she points out. The 504-A is 43 inches long, 33 inches wide and 13 1/4 inches deep, and the 504-C stands 50 inches tall. “They’re a pretty good size because a wheelchair is. For some reason, people think a wheelchair is supposed to fit in a box, and it’s a little bit of an eye-opener when it doesn’t.”
The 504-A, big as it is, is easy enough to transport, but the 504-C can require special considerations, Haseltine says. “Although the smaller container can, for the most part, go with you in a van or the backseat of a mid-sized car when you travel, you have to leave the large container at the airport and come back and pick it up. You probably have to make arrangements with baggage handling, because they’re usually pretty nice about it, whereas the airlines will just say you can’t do it.” The 504-A model is available for $369, and the 504-C is available for $689. They come in two stylish colors: black and blue. For more information, and to find out how to purchase a wheelchairs Haseltine Flyer, visit www.haseltine.com.
Lori A. Wood is a regular contributor to Action.
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