Coach Lift Makes RVing Possible for Disabled

RVing is much easier for handicapped persons these days thanks to products like the Coach Lift. Tom Finklea and his father invented the Coach Lift for his mother who suffered from polio. The lift allowed her to enter and exit the RV with ease. Turns out this invention was just what many folks needed to better enjoy the RV experience. Tom has been producing these lifts for 20 years selling over 4,400 units so far. The lift runs off 12 volts so it works on RVs, boats, tractors, airplanes, vans, 18 wheelers and just about any application you can think of. Tom recognizes that everyone has a different situation and may need a custom designed lift. He invites you to call him to discuss your situation personally. This lift can be removed in less than two minutes from your RV to be used in other applications such as a cabin entrance or the back porch of your home. Tom can even match the pole to your coaches color scheme. The chair easily lifts off for storage while traveling. The lift can be made to extend up to 12 feet. Tom says that in 20 years they’ve never had an accident. You can check out his website here CoachLift.
Thanks, Tom, for bringing such an important product to market. Helping you get a leg up - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

Tips for Camping in a Hospital Parking Lot

Many hospitals have designated RV parking. In fact, many hospitals have hook-ups that patients and family members can use for free. Here is an example of one such hospital. This RV parking area was an afterthought so they worked it into an existing parking area. It only has electric and water but a sewer pumping service is available for a fee. These RV facilities are often found at hospitals that have long term treatment programs like cancer treatment and guarded pregnancy (requiring the mom to be in hospital care to bring the baby to full term). Hotel costs are often prohibitive for people in these situations which is why the RV solution is a great alternative. Patients and family members can live on the hospital campus in the comfort of their own RV. If you need to use one of these facilities make sure you check in with the administrative office. These spaces are usually on a first come first served basis and require some connection with a patient in the care of the hospital. I’ve used hospital RV facilities several times in conjunction with the care of family members and it is very convenient. A fixed income cancer treatment patient told me that she didn’t know what she would do if it were not for the RV parking available at the hospital. She counted it a great blessing to be able to stay there for free while undergoing treatment. If the hospital RV parking is full or they don’t have RV hook-ups you may still be able to park your self contained RV in the out-back hospital parking lot. Check with the hospital administration office or the security office to get permission to do this. Helping you stretch your dollars - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

Take a Virtual Tour of a Handicap Accessible RV

How do folks with disabilities go RVing? The answer is the same as everybody else with a few modifications to make life easier. Skip Johnson lost the use of his legs many years ago but that didn’t stop him from becoming a full time RVer. Skip and his wife Barbara decided to become full time RVers so they could see this great country up close and personal. The Johnson’s purchased this Allegro Bus used from another person with disabilities so it was ready to go. Many RV manufacturers already have plans for handicapped modified RV’s and they can also custom make features that will accommodate you. Getting in and out of the RV is important and there are several ways to accomplish this. There are complete hydraulic lifts that tuck neatly away under the coach. Another popular type is the exterior mounted transfer seat that uses a worm drive to move the seat up and down a pole then swings the person into the RV. Skip uses the “Strong Arm Lift” that attaches inside the coach next to the door. This lift uses a hydraulic arm that drops down allowing the person to attach chains to the center pivot point of the chair and then lifts the chair up into the coach.
Skip uses a hand-held control to operate this lift. Using this type of lift requires the door to be wider to allow the chair to easily pass into the RV. It also requires that the entry/exit steps be modified at the top to hold up the wheels of the chair. In order for the chair to be lifted into the coach the electric steps must be retracted and he rigged up a special handle to operate the toggle switch to extend the steps once he is back inside. This is important because Barbara might try to step out of the coach and forget that the steps were retracted - ouch! Once inside the coach you need to be able to maneuver your scooter or powered chair freely around the RV. This may require moving some walls and making the entry doors to the bedroom wider. Powered scooters and chairs have a tendency to scratch the furniture and that’s why Barbara likes the lighter colored oak because it doesn’t show scratches as bad as darker woods and a little scratch cover fixes it right up. The table is a wall mount so it’s easy to get the chair up to the table. The bed was moved six inches over to one side so Skip can get in and out of bed easier. A trapeze is useful for turning over in bed. The bathroom has been modified to include a floor drain shower. Skip gets in his shower chair and rolls onto the stainless steel shower pan, pulls the shower curtain around him and and sings his favorite tune. The toilet is angled at 45 degrees into the open bathroom for ease of access. The lavatory sink is a cutaway so Skip can get his chair under the sink. In the kitchen the microwave is lowered and the drawers all have 100% roll out arms. Skip is quite comfortable in this coach and tells me that set-up and take-down is easy enough to accomplish using his power chair. How about driving? Skip does all the driving and they tow a handicap modified van that has a hydraulic chair lift installed. So how does Skip operate this 40 foot motorhome using only his hands? The cockpit is equipped with hand controls. The brakes are applied by pushing down on the lever below the steering wheel. You pull this same control toward the knees for acceleration and since this is equipped with a push-button automatic transmission driving is a breeze. Watch this video for a virtual tour of this coach.
Opening new doors to the amazing and completely accessible world of RVing - Jim Twamley Professor of RVing.