Has anyone rented a powerchair/electric wheelchair?

[dylansdad]

dont know if ECV is doable

 

[SueM in MN]

We have not done it, but have investigated it since we didn't want to travel with DD's power wheelchair. We didn't do it because DD is sort of an unusual size (very thin, but needing a pretty long seat) and they could not provide a size that would fit her. She also has some positioning needs that they could not provide.
In general, the rental companies will only rent power wheelchairs to people who are already familiar to using them. The probable reasons for this are that power wheelchairs are a bit more difficult to drive than an ecv if you are not familiar (driving with a joystick is not really intuitive and requires a bit more practice than an ecv), need some individual set up (compared to an ecv, which is more one size fits all) and are a lot more expensive than an ecv.
The information we were asked to provide were size (length and width) for the seat and some parameters for the computerized drive system (top speed, how quickly it accelerates - I think DD's power chair has about 8 parameters individually set for her that we provided).

I guess I would contact the company you are thinking of using and discuss your needs with them. It's possible that a "general" rule could be bent if an ecv would not work.

 

[BCV23]

We've rented a power chair for our DD several times from Care. We were very happy with them each time. They do not carry the same model that our daughter uses but one closest enough that it worked fine for her. She does not need modifications though other than a left handed joystick.

 

[SueM in MN]

Care's website does say:
Electric Wheelchairs:

Electric Wheelchairs have a joystick and are most often needed by people who cannot walk at all and/or have use of only one hand. The joystick can be placed on either the right or the left-hand side. These are harder to use than the scooters and are rented only to those who use one at home but do not wish to bring their own. They rent for $45.00 per day with a 3-consecutive day minimum.
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/products01.htm#electric

So, you may be out of luck if you don't use one at home.

 

[BCV23]

Yes, I agree with Sue. I was asked a number of questions by Care the first time we rented. They wanted to know what model she used at home. I also gave them some measurements from her chair to make certain theirs would work for her.

Is this for your son? There may be a minimum age they rent too as well. I think our DD was 16 or so the first time we rented. I think it is the smallest they had too and it is a little too large for her. I tried a pillow but she preferred to lounge back! Not the best for posture but seating is not an issue for her so for a week or so, it is fine.

It is my understanding that the chairs come with a right joystick but that is a very easy modification for them to switch it to a left joystick for lefthanders. We also were told to bring our own ball control but I forgot it the first time. She was very proud of how well she did with a switch control so it ended up not being an issue. Thank goodness!

We recently purchased a power Quickie as a backup for her at school and it will also be great for travel we hope. We took it on a trip in January and it was great.

But Care was a good start for us.