When confronted with the task of transporting a loved who is bed ridden or confined to a wheelchair great distances one can find themselves lost.
The first thing that you as the “guardian” needs to figure out is the distance. This will help in determining both the comfort needs of your loved one and it will help decide the method of transport required.
There are no exact answers to whether air or ground transport is best. Ground transport is certainly cheaper and air is certainly faster. A good question to ask yourself is how long will the transport take both by air and by ground. Then look at the needs of your loved one. Will they be able to tolerate that given amount of time in a transport vehicle? Also will traveling by air cause undue stress to your loved one? Always consult your doctor before utilizing medical transport by air.
Once you have decided on your mode of transportation. That is whether your loved one will be transported by air or ground medical transportation then you can start asking the question of what to transport them in.
There are three classic methods to be transported in. Going by patient need from the bottom up. The lowest needs patient would be classified as an ambulatory patient. These patients are able to walk to the transport vehicle and are very good candidates for air travel. The next level would be those who are confined to a wheelchair. These patients are able to sit upright for the duration of the transport. As a rule of thumb, most patients don’t tolerate sitting in a wheelchair more than about three hours especially if they have any kind of sore areas on their back or bottom sides. The last mode of transport is by stretcher. Transport by stretcher is the preferred method for any transport over three hours. If a patient can’t tolerate a wheelchair or is bed ridden then this is the only method for medical transport.
Once you have determined your method of medical transportation and determined whether your loved one will be going as an ambulatory patient or in an wheelchair or stretcher then your ready to search for your long distance medical transportation carrier. I have linked to a few good ones in this article but you can enter a simple search for long distance medical transportation and find more.
Last but not least it is important to plan ahead. Book the transport after you have everything in place on both the pick up address and the destination address. A lot of medical facilities require notification prior to receiving patients. Make sure to have all medications prepared for transport and if your loved one requires any special equipment such as oxygen the make sure to notify the medical transport company that you choose.
If you follow this article as a guide line you will find that it will take much of the stress out of a seemingly difficult scenario.
