Dear Karen
We have recently bought 2 Stairmate Major IIs. At the moment one
is being used in one of our museum buildings and the other as a
back-up evacuation device in a department which has a lift (where
there are regularly 3 wheelchair users). They seem to work
extremely well. The only difficulties we have had so far are that
they obviously require a certain amount of space to operate - we
have also bought a number of scalamobil stairclimbers for use in
smaller buildings. Also, some people are rather wary about
operating them. The ideal is that a wide range of people are trained
operators, but when everyone is being stretched in several different
directions it is not always easy to find willing volunteers.
I am not sure whether the climbers would be covered by the same
rules as stairlifts - needing to leave a certain amount of passing
space for egress of other people needing to evacuate.
Best wishes
Hannah
On 23 Jan 2004, at 10:26, Karen Hedley wrote:
Hello folks,
Has anyone had any experience of using Stairmate Major portable
wheelchair stairlift? I am due to attend a demonstration of this
equipment on Tuesday, to see whether it could be used to evacuate
wheelchair users in the event of an emergency, especially in
buildings
where there are no refuge points. Any feedback would be
appreciated.
many thanks
Karen
Karen Hedley
Disability Officer
Queen's University Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
Tel: 028 9027 3225
Email: [log in to unmask]
******************************
Dr Hannah Young
University Disability Adviser
Diversity and Equal Opportunities Unit
University of Oxford
University Offices
Wellington Square
Oxford OX1 2JD
Tel: 01865 280459
Fax: 01865 280300
Email : [log in to unmask]
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