My fiance and I want to take my brother, who is a C-4 complete quad, out on the lake in our boat. We want to lift him in and out of the water from the boat, but we have no adaptive equipment. Does anyone know of and equipment we could rent or make? I don't suppose a hoyer lift or a pool lift would work? Also, what flotation devices should we use? Thanks in advance!

you know those RoHo matresses? ;)

JK..

Where abouts are you in the world.. and where are you going.. that might start things log rolling a bit ;)

Would like to know where you are. I'm usually pretty creative and might be able to give you some ideas, but don't know your resources.

The only time my husband has been on a boat was in Cancun when we went deep sea fishing and 4 Mexican guys just picked him up, chair and all and set him in between the 2 stationary seats. We have a portable pool lift that we use to get him in/out of our pool at home. Whenever we've been on vacation it's easy to get him in, I just give him a shove at the deep end. Boy, he can hold his breath a long time.

I was thinking of perhaps a sling stretcher. Whatever you use, perhaps you could first try it in the local swimming pool where they have a hoist already in case it doesn't work or proves too hard.

I did some scuba diving a few years ago and getting in and out of the dive boat at sea was done like this...

I would get to the side of the boat, with my back against the boat. All the dive gear would be taken off me. With the life vest fully inflated, one guy would pull me under water and let me go. As I popped out the water, two guys on the boat grabbed my life jacket and continue the lift on to the boat, and supported me in the seated position on the edge. Then on to the boat.

It's more technique that strength. Practice on some one not disabled and see how easy it is.

i go to the lake a bunch, i give wakeboard lessons still, but depends on the boat.

i'm a c5/6 complete so i'm along the lines of your brother:

getting on a pontoon/house boat some of the bigger ones i have driven my powerchair on, other smaller ones, 24' or smaller, i have taken a manual chair and then they just lift me on.

ski boats are a little tougher, tried multiple ways(depending on size of your brother & size of people helping);

the best way i've found is by using a transfer sling, i sit on it and have someone on both sides, i put my arms around their necks to support my upper body, then they work their way onto the boat and set me down in a seat.

getting out of the water is close to the same technique:

i get positioned wherever the boat has the most open space cause 3 people have been needed & facing away from the boat, the sling is placed under me again for me to be in a seated position, with 2 lifting, the 3rd person is used to keep me sitting up & not hit my head on anything while the lift happens.



i sold my boat so i'm always going on different boats, otherwise you could mount a cherry picker on the boat & use it, shown around 2 min.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nZ0t3UUIg

i'm a rehab engineer and own a small business. we were working on this problem, and had a couple prototypes.
One was like a cot, and it served as a bridge/ramp between the dock and the boat.
We also constructed a rail system, and a chair/seat traveled across the rails. It had a braking system, and a winch/pulley to make it easier to pull yourself up an angle.

There are a couple of transfer devices I know of: www.broadenedhorizons.com
and another is a transfer seat, called Lovehandles, at www.redbarn-enter.com

we're hoping to take up the project again, but need to find funding first. if you want to keep up on what we're doing, send me an email at
dianne@blueskydesigns.us or check out our website from time to time
www.blueskydesigns.us

Hi i have a little guy whos 8 and wheelchair bound. Were thinking of a pontoon boat but he cant help anyway with lifting him out of the water. He had a stroke on his right side so hes only has 1 good arm. Any ideas so we can do family outings?????

Thanks
Amy

If you brother has good biceps and is not heavy you can take it in your back.

We are in Napa CA

I found that a lot of the slings people were recommending it worked really well for me. I may C-4 quadriplegic and have very little strength in my upper body although I do have control of my arms. The type of manual list that I have used involves having one individual on each side of myself, each with one hand under my knees and one hand on the waste of my pants. Then I lean my upper body into their shoulders and when they lift me I really have nowhere to fall, I feel completely safe. Although you might be worried about your physical strength to perform this list, it's not all that demanding as long as you have two people. I weigh about 160 270 pounds and have had two girlfriends to it that were no taller than 5 foot three and 115 pounds each.

But all the other individuals that post about great ideas as well, so good luck. If anyone's ever interested in coming fishing in the Vancouver/British Columbia area send me e-mail and I can give you some tipsd as I used to be a fishing guide before my accident. Good luck and tight lines!

Well we did it! Actually it was WAY easier than expected. My Dad stayed in the boat and my husband picked my brother up and set him in the boat. We all took turns keeping him upright. We even took him tubing. We laid him down face first on the tube (with a life jacket on, obviously) and I laid over him and grabbed the handles. We drove the boat pretty slow, but we were able to go over wakes, etc. It was the most fun we've ever had.
For others wanting to do this, I would just recommend having someone really strong with you, for lifting. Luckily, my husband is 6"4 and 275lbs. Don't know if it would have been as easy with someone not as strong. Maybe two average built men. Anyway-highly recommended. It was a blast

Try renting or borrowing a pontoon boat the power chairs can go right through the gate and when in the water next to the dock they are the same height with a short ramp you can go right on the boat and enjoy the day.



I am a 47 year old C-7 i don't know about getting him out of the water but I have a pontoon and once it is in the water the deck is the same height as the docks so i can wheel right through the gate onto the boat, from there i can drive and fish lots of fun.

I myself am a quadriplegic and my company, Broadened Horizons designs, manufactures, and markets unique adaptive equipment specifically for individuals with upper extremity limitations- little or no use of their hands and arms. Our products are designed and supported by the disabled for the disabled.

My Patented Comfort Carrier Travel, Recreation, & Emergency Preparedness Transfer Sling is very popular and will quickly and efficiently solve this problem for you. I designed it the first time I had to fly commercially and found it to be a ridiculous experience. Over the past few years the Comfort Carrier has been used by hundreds of individuals around the world for getting on and off aircraft big and small, in and out of boats, hot air ballooning, trains, taxis, cruises, hotel beds, and I use it for kayaking enhance cycling. It is used and recommended by many disabled travel professionals and incorporated into safety training on handling disabled individuals for foreign airlines trying to come in compliance the Air Carrier Access Act. I encourage you to take a look at the testimonials and videos on the webpage and the flyer you can download on the webpage. I had to cut the testimonials from the flyer attached to this post, the pictures made it too big. The Comfort Carrier is in stock and available for immediate shipment.
Comfort Carrier Travel, Recreation, & Emergency Preparedness Transfer Sling by Broadened Horizons:
http://www.BroadenedHorizons.com/comfortcarrier.htm

The Comfort Carrier allows 2 people to comfortably, safely, and an ergonomically lift and move someone from point A to point B. I am 5'11" and 250 pounds, have been lifted with relative ease by a 60-year-old woman who does safety consultant for the airlines who had back surgery three years ago and my technician who is 55. however you can use up to 4 or five people to assist with lifting. 3 work well when stepping over the cumbersome sides of the boat that is also floating and moving. You can lift the person from either side or from the front and back such as going through a narrow asile. The most common lift is from either side using the handles by the hips and outsides of the knees. Also very importantly once the person is in the new seat, since and buckles in front of the knees you can simply lift on the handles behind the shoulder blades to scoot their but back in the seat so they are sitting up straight or lift on a handled by the hips to shift their hips to sit straight.