seat belt: how to route and position lap and shoulder belts on different types of wheelchairs. If you’re a driver of a paratransit bus, you’ll see different types of wheelchairs that have different belts. Training is something the standard can’t do.” Jean Zimmerman, supervisor of OT and PT services for the
Palm Beach County (Fla.) School District, also stressed that training on the new standards is key to their effectiveness. “With the new lap-shoulder belt system, I think people will get very confused. I can’t tell you how many times I see the connecting part of it on the child’s stomach, not the pelvis. We need to do more training for bus staff,” she said. At pupil transportation conventions, Zimmerman has found
that many operators are unaware of the updated safety standards. “It came out at the STN [EXPO] conference last summer, and Schneider talked about it at the EDUPRO [Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers National] conference, but not everybody gets to attend,” she said. “Te more people hear about it, that’s going to be the key.” Schneider agreed that it is a major challenge to get the word out to
parents, therapists, bus drivers, attendants and even manufacturers. “When I ask people if they’ve heard of WC19, I get a lot more
hands raised than I used to,” Schneider said. “I think a lot more people are aware today — but that doesn’t mean that enough people are aware.”
SEEKING A ‘TRIED AND TRUE’ PROCESS Patrick Girardin of Q’Straint and Sure-Lok said their securement
systems have all been crash-tested to meet automotive standards. “We’re excited to see crashworthy wheelchairs in the market
because it raises the level of safety of wheelchair passengers that basically everyone else has. Although the chairs will still move, everything has been tested together,” he said. Girardin noted that the company makes a point to crash test
with UMTRI, the same group pushing the RESNA standards, adding, “All future products will be designed with these new safety standards in mind.” Charley Kennington, director of Innovative Transportation
Solutions in Houston, said the updated standards wisely address the varying sizes of students in wheelchairs. “Before, when dealing with small children, you were pretty
limited with what you could do. Te specs also changed the limitations for size on the mass for the wheelchair. It changed both ends of the spectrum, which is good because we as a society are getting larger,” said Kennington, a former Texas state director of student transportation. Both history and data support strengthening of the standards. “I think this could be a step forward,” he concluded. “Before
you start mandating procedures, you have to have a tried-and- true process that works.” ■
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www.americanbusproducts.com www.stnonline.com 29 Untitled-1 1 12/6/11 2:53 PM
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