Martiza Valentin of AMF-Bruns of America presented a three-hour course at the TSD Conference on “Mastering Wheelchair & Occupant Securement Training.” More hands on training opportunities will be available at STN EXPO East along with a securing CSRS in non-school bus vehicles class by Denise Donaldson.
that you would need to meet in order for that device to be secured,” Reaume said. “And then, if there’s a turnover rate, a driver sick for a day, or kid goes on a field trip, that new driver knows, ‘All right, this is where I would secure it, because I see the points on the on the on the wheel- chair frame.’” He cautioned against districts not talking about se-
curement during the IEP, as assumptions can be made that transportation can easily provide safe and accessible transportation, whereas Reaume noted it takes planning and training to do so. When contracting with other providers, Reaume said
it’s important that the district is communicating with the company to educate and train the contractor on the needs of the student. “But the other thing, when we talk about these chairs …
there’s a disconnect where we think a manual chair for a student would be easy to secure, or a power chair would be difficult to secure,” he said. “What makes a chair easier or difficult isn’t the design of the chair, necessarily. It’s
whether you can achieve the three essential securement principles for securing a device.” Reaume noted three questions to ask—Can you find a solid frame-member? Can you get there taking a direct pass, so the belts aren’t routed through any frame-mem- bers or significantly twisted, or resting on the battery pack. Then, can you get a 45-degree belt angle? That is what’s putting the downward pressure on the chair. “So, if you get all those, it doesn’t matter how complex
the device is … that device should be secure, even if it’s not crash tested,” he said. “I’ve had districts say to me, we’re requiring students
that are in power chairs to transfer to a manual chair,” he said, noting that’s not going to fix anything. “You shouldn’t take someone out of their mobility device if you can meet those principles.” Reaume cautioned against drivers feeling embarrassed
by not knowing how to secure a particular wheelchair and instead of saying something, they do their best and transport the child.
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