Is there a good/safe way to get my elderly stepmother up three flights of stairs? Can I rent a chair with seat belt and handles? This will be a once up once down event.
Any standard wheelchair will do. Pop it up in a wheelie and pull up one step at a time.
For safety you really should have someone on the front too.
Going down, you want to pop the wheelie and back down the steps.
We do this every Sunday helping a couple people int Church. It’s 12 steps.
Three flights of stairs. I hope you got a strong back. That’s really too much.
Check out this guy in a wheelchair doing it by himself. :eek:
He must have tree trunks for arms.
For a one time thing, check with a local medical equipment supplier.
Long term, there are powered railing and chair systems for stairways.
Hm, maybe borrow a wheelchair, strap her in securely, and have two people (one above, one below) roll her backward up the stairs?
(Or, what aceplace57 said.)
I have 39 steps and am worried about the bump, bump, bump. Little old lady does not like the bump, bump.
We had an elderly member of an historic club attend a meeting on a 2nd floor and 2 people carried him up in a normal chair.
You will need at least 2 strong people to do this. And they will probably find it easier to just pick up her in the wheelchair and just carry it up the stairs. She probably doesn’t weigh all that much, anyway.
Get help.
How does your stepmother feel about all this? Does she really want to be there? Is she physically frail? Does she have dementia?
Depending on her condition, she might get so stressed out from the trip up three flights of stairs that she won’t enjoy the event once she gets there.
If her presence is so important that the event wouldn’t be the same with out her, take the event to her. Otherwise, she might be just as happy with someone sharing photos with her after the fact.
I’ve gone through enough of those “Oh, but she HAS to be there!” events with an elderly relative to realize that the wishes and expectations of others might not be what’s best for the elderly relative.
If your stepmother knows she’s going to be carried up three flights of stairs and is game for the adventure, she is awesome, and so are you for getting her to the event!
Can she just sit down and push herself up backwards one step at a time? This is what I have to do (unless I want to wake up in searing pain the next day.) Just post a guard at the top and bottom to give her some privacy.
At my high school, in the days before they installed an elevator, they once had a student in a wheelchair. They handled it by arranging to have three football players waiting for him between classes: Two of them would pick him up out of the chair and carry him up or down the steps, while the third got the chair.
If you would be needing multiple people to carry her in the chair anyway, it might work out easier to just carry her directly, and have someone else handle the chair.
I second this. It is not fun being picked up and lugged around. I volunteered to let a few crew lug me down the stairs on my cruise so they could get some practice in. Not fun at all.
How about moving the party somewhere else? There are party venues all over the place that are free or reasonable costing, just look around.
do you want to put a person in a location where their isn’t a quick fire escape. if they or a neighbor can’t evacuate themself it is not a good place to be.
How much does she weigh? Just throw her over your shoulder and carry her up the stairs and then down again. It’s a one time deal. No sweat. No bump bump bump.
Lots of churches run 12-step programs.
I’d have to agree with many of the points made above.
Make sure that she is aware of the stairs requirement and that she really wants to attend even so. If needed, make other arrangements (a live webcam feed, a small group going over to visit her, moving to another venue, whatever).
If you’re really going to do this, I strongly recommend having several very strong carriers on hand. Don’t do the bump-bump-bump thing - that’s incredibly wearing for a short distance, it will be horrible for three flights.
Get an arm chair with a rung for her feet, have her sit in it, and pick it up with one person on either side (i.e., holding the back support and the arm rest or front leg). Tilt it back SLIGHTLY to keep her in the seat.
If she’s already in a wheelchair, they can lift her in the chair. Just be sure that they’re grabbing something stable. (Mom’s chair, the arms come off, so that won’t work. If you grab the wheels, you better be sure they’re locked down good or the whole chair will spin around them.)
I seem to remember reading that Segways were designed to go up stairs though, officially, they aren’t intended for that. I’ve never used one. Anyone tried them up stairs? Would they be stable enough for an elderly person?
I believe you’re thinking of an X Bot, invented by the same man as the Segway. They are designed to go up stairs and do other stunts. IIRC They currently cost 20 grand or so.
Hire a fireman’s outfit too, and make her day.
I think what she weighs would be a key piece of information to have.
Could two strapping men, doing an emergency lift, carry her up the stairs? Would she be comfortable with that? Because that would surely be the easiest thing.
Make sure, they practice, with someone of the same body weight, on the exact flights of stairs, before giving it a go, with her, in their arms.
Dressing them up like firemen? Brilliant!