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My Mom has advanced vascular dementia and is a memory care facility. She is confined to a wheelchair but can use her legs to get around. She sees to have a need to move the chair a lot roaming the hallway and common area over and over. In April she crashed the chair into a door jam and fell against the doorway resulting in a big lump on her head and broken nose. Yesterday she had a similar accident resulting in a baseball sized bump on the forehead and lots of bruising. The emergency room doctor said Washington state prohibits the use of a seat belt. Does anyone know of this is true? Mom only weighs 89 pounds.

Would like to prevent any more such accidents but I don't want to take away her ability to move either. Are there any other steps we can take to prevent these accidents?

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Reading all these posts really hits home with me...My husband is in a Memory Care unit and is constantly trying to get out of his chair and/or bed and has fallen way too many times...He's also under the care of Hospice and they have tried every type of wheel chair possible and he still manages to slide out...Just this past week, I've been told, it's a state law, here in Pa. that prohibits any type of restraints and that includes the alarms on the bed as well as on the wheel chair...Last night, I got another call, saying he had tried to stand and once again fell...What is the answer??? There are safe restraints and I for 1 would want them to be used but the Homes aren't allowed...We buckle up the babies, we use seat belts but for the elderly, just let them keep falling and getting injured more and more...This makes no sense!
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I believe that seat belts in wheelchairs are considered "restraints" and thus not allowed.

There are various kinds of wheelchair cushions that might help in this situation. OT are usually the folks who know about adaptive gadgets, so contact the therapy department and get them working on this problem.
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That restrictionist not unusual. What's UNUSUAL is that she fell twice. What is WRONG with those people?

She needs to be in a facility that uses the large dining room as. Common room all day long. Large flat screen, like 60", on wall. Then wheeled to the table with a bird'seye view of the screen and wheelchair wheels LOCKED.

Move her if they can't accommodate that need. Sorry, no more moving on her own.
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I have seen a tray used that fits over the arms, much the same way a high chair tray fits. Perhaps they can do something like that. I found many options doing a Google search, but the facility probably has some.
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Just had this happen. My Daughter works rehab-longterm facility. Mom was in a wheelchair with a belt that was loosly buckled. There was a big red button with "press me". Daughter said this is legal as long as the patient can unbuckle it. Now they have Mom in a chair that the back can be slanted making it hard to get out.
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I had this situation with my Mom. I BEGGED the memory care place to do something so she wouldn't fall. Like most states, there is a no restraint law here. BUT they did (finally) agree to install a lap belt. They followed some permissible rule and showed my Mom how to open the seat belt. Then someone watched her open it and signed a statement that she could open it upon someone telling her to do so. Following this, they put a sweater on her lap to cover the seat belt. This (mostly) worked and she soon forgot how to open it --- things were peaceful after that! : - ))
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From my observation the alarms are mostly useless, those who need them are moving and setting them off almost constantly so they tend to be ignored, and if someone does actually fall the alarm will only bring help after the fact.
Does he have a tilt in place wheelchair Irishgram? That coupled with freqflyer's pillow idea and asking that he be kept by the nurses station might help.
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You have no idea how much I appreciate the answers and hopefully some help might be forthcoming...I can see how some restraints can be dangerous but even if a simple pillow, the alarms on the chairs or bed or as in my husband's case, that little saddle horn on the cushion has to help prevent so many falls...I sometimes wonder who in the world comes up with these laws! Hospice has made sure my husband has a rocker type chair that is tilted back to make it harder to get of by he's found a way, lol and also, he does have a hospital bed that is lowered and a mat on the floor...And I have noticed, they have gotten what looks like bumper pads that fit around the edges to keep him in bed but I'll bet they'll have to remove that also... Something has to be done to keep these people safe and I have a feeling, my "fight" has just begun....Thanks again for answering.....
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Seatbelts in wheelchairs do not go across the body. They can be used in the state of NJ but...the person has to be able to get out so it's not considered a restraint. They are shown the red button they can push to release the seatbelt. Since Mom kept trying to get out of a wheelchair the home gave her a chair with wheels that looked like a beach chair. The seat could be slanted back to keep Mom from being able to get out.
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I am so determined to find something that works...Just today, when I visited with him, he mostly slept and even in his sleep, he's moving around and trying to get out of the chair...Of course they still have the buzzer on it and it would go off but with me being there, they didn't come running...Most of the time, they do keep him close to the nurse's station or pushed up against the big table, close by...I do feel sorry for the nurses and aides, it has to be so frustrating...I noticed one little lady who had fallen the day before and had a terrible gash on her forehead, she must have had 20 stitches...Just so sad!
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