It’s in the bag

As travel gets back to normality [moreor-less], along with it comes the joy of luggage management - and all the fun-and-games of trying to cram as much as possible into the smallest possible space without getting busted and charged exorbitant excess fees.

It comes to mind that a little bear in classic children's literature, once travelled from Lima to London with all his earthly belongings in a small suitcase – an almost empty jar of marmalade, a photo of his aunt, a scrapbook and a few coins. But there are not many Paddington Bears about these days, and persons with disability equipment need to face even more challenges to ensure their time away is safe and enjoyable.

It's not always just about the equipment arriving, but arriving undamaged and with no missing pieces… ideally in a bag. Following are some new products which may provide peace of mind in transit:

HYGIENE

Travelling with the confidence that you will be able to shower and use the toilet safely and hygienically at the other end is just about to get a whole lot easier. Based in the Netherlands, Lagooni has developed shower commodes which dismantle and fit into a regular suitcase. These are available in compact and standard sizes with the option of transit or self-propelled wheels – plus customisation if necessary.

PRESSURE CARE

One of the more difficult things to obtain for hire in unfamiliar locations is effective in-bed pressure care. The Levabo TurnAll can be placed under the mattress in any accommodation to convert a standard bed into an automated turning bed. This quietly rotates the user from side to side at 30 minute intervals, thereby off-loading areas of the body at most risk of pressure ulcers when not in their prescribed bed. Comes with a travel bag!

LIFTING/ TRANSFER

The Silva Travel-Lite is a lightweight travel sling which folds into a handy backpack. It is both a hoistable and manual transfer sling in one. For anyone who has been manually lifted from an aeroplane seat – this takes all the uncertainty and risk out of potentially being in the hands of strangers.

BEACH ACCESS

Beach wheelchairs are notoriously large and rarely fold up enough for practical transportation apart from road trips. Read more about the BeachStar – a beach chair in a bag – at the end of this publication. It weighs just 12kg and carries 120kg.

Brought to you by Avant Innovations – avantinnovations.com.au

02 8315 2834