Four months had passed since I
imported a patient hoist/lift from the USA, and only started lately to use it to
transfer me from one surface (sitting position) to another. As you all perhaps
know that after my fracture in femur in 2013, I lost my ability to stand and transferring
from one place to another has become difficult. Initially the transfer between
the wheelchair and car (and car to wheelchair) has been the most difficult
thing, but these days every transfer has become difficult as parents find it
harder to shift me here and there. My mom too has exposed to serious health
issues lately and expected to be addressed (by hysterectomy) soon, so I thought
it was the right moment to go for an alternate and thus the patient lift.
 |
| (my portable transfer aid) |
There are hoist manufactures in
India, but Indian make are bigger in size and take away large space while being
operated as well as in idle, so I was looking for a portable ones which are
available only in abroad. First I
inquired about the popular one in the hoist manufacturing, the Milford Peron
Lift, both in US and UK through my friends there. It is a lift that can be
mounted into a car as well as walls at home, near the cot and toilet, where the
transference happens frequently. But the price of person lift cost a lot and
falls out of the budget. Actually there isn't a budget quota but knowing my
limits I kept away the idea and went to Take-along Lift, after learning its
usage, which seems to be simplest, and the compact in size grows a desire and
interest to fetch.
I decided to go for it with
confident only after getting nod from one of the mobility aid manufacturer in
Chennai, who I know for long time and who understand the needs of disabled so
well. But moreover it is because of my friend, who was on onsite to USA, boosted
my confidence. Because I believed someone being there would be great helpful in
communicating with the company and can confidently progress with purchase. I
just passed the link of the website to him and he takes care of the entire
procedure and updated me with each step forward. He also paid the entire sum,
including the shipping, to repay when he returns home. What really caused trouble
was the imposed customs duty at the airport, which we didn't expect?
This is the first time we are
importing something from abroad, although we aware about the customs duty but
what make us carefree was that my friend told, the shipping company (USP) has
said to deliver at home. He was further told the hoist will be delivered within
a week of payment, so I was looking forward to receive it without going out
anywhere. Meanwhile, I received a call from the shipping company agent in
Chennai and he asked us to collect the hoist from the airport, via custom house
agent (CHA), by producing the document which he had sent through email. Before
that he asked us to come over their office and take away the dispatch
notification by paying an amount and only showing that at the airport will lead
out the hoist.
Initially he hadn't said anything
about visiting his office, so we proceeded with a relative, who is working at
cargo and who helped us with each step within the customs regulatory and I am
sure if he hadn't it would have been great difficult with the proceeding. He had
been in touch with airport authorities on the arrival of flight (BA 035) and
also arranged for a CHA to clear away the customs proceeding, where we are insist
to pay 25% of the entire cost ($2215) of the hoist. Although they reduced 10%
on the customs duty later when we produced my medical documents and letter from
our family doctor on the purpose of importing the hoist, we spent more than 10%
of the amount of duty here and there on the progress including the rupee paid for
the releasing order from the shipping company.
It was less than a week progress
from the time I received the call from the shipping agent, and the flight hadn't
arrived at the time/date he had mentioned in the mail and when we inquire about
it, only then he told about the order to get from them. In the other mail he indicated that only 1 pack
of the 4 packs had arrived and our relative also confirmed it, so we waited for
a couple of days for the others packs to come. But after a day or two day when
we called the agent, in doubt, as I read the packing would be done as a sole carton,
he told that it was only 1 pack and the other 3 were marked mistakenly. So no
way blaming others, as we have to pay extra charges for the days it had been retained
by the customs.
 |
| Image courtesy: takealonglifts |
Coming to the Portable TransferAid (PTA), it weights merely 20 kg and could lift individuals weighting up to 136 kg
and though it’s a manually operated mechanism, it’s the easiest among the
patient lifts I have seen. This lift can be used both at home and transported
in a car to use where we needed and it can also be disassembled into two parts
of approximately equal weight for easy transport. Unlike other hoist/lift that elevates
patient in hanging or swing position, the PTA lifts like seated in chair and comes
in two lifting options. The Seat and Split Slings are both used for transferring
and the seat sling is positioned underneath the patient, while waking up from
bed, with closed bottom, to feel not unease while travelling out of doors and
quick transferring. But the split sling is designed to lift patient from their
sitting position and is mainly used for toileting as the sling provides access
to clothing and under-garments.
Just began to use it slowly, we
are supposed to practice it more for easier transferring. The seat sling doesn't
need much effort like the split sling which has extract strap to connect for safety
feature and the force required to turn crack (to lift patient) is typically
less than 5 lbs. So far we have been used it many time for transferring me from
wheelchair to car/SUV, but haven’t take it out anywhere. I hope it will be very
useful in coming days as my parents feeling tough to transfer me, and the PTA doesn't
need much manpower to access and look after others.
