Miss Wheelchair for Miss Wheelchair?
Beauty pageants¡ªexcuse us, scholarship competitions¡ªget more elaborate every year. There are Miss and Ms. Wheelchair competitions and now it seems they have their own line of wheelchairs as well. Introducing the Miss Wheelchair brand, weighing 35 pounds, 20 inches tall, can carry up to 250 pounds! She wants to be a neurosurgeon and likes to crochet.
We're joking, there is no official Ms. Wheelchair America wheelchair brand. Contestants use wheel chair brands from a variety of wheelchair manufacturers, the top in the business, including:
? Quickie Sunrise Medical Wheel Chair
? Electric Jazzy Wheelchair
? Invacare Wheel Chair
And, although the Miss Universe and Miss America pageants swear, as does Donald Trump, that pageants are just scholarship competitions, the Ms. Wheelchair competition truly isn't a beauty pageant. That said, the winners are truly beautiful people. Maybe an official Miss Wheelchair brand isn't a far-fetched idea. How about a Junior Miss Wheelchair line for the winners of tomorrow?
Choosing Jazzy Wheel Chairs
You're ready for a power wheelchair with some Force. "Power of wheelchair in you is," says Yoda. And while you're not tempted by the Dark Side, you'd like a little more oomph when dealing with Sith lords.
Out of all the wheelchair manufacturers and wheelchair brands, you bypassed the Sunrise Medical wheel chair and the Invacare wheel chair. You went straight for the Pride Mobility Jazzy wheelchair. But finding a wheelchair brand shouldn¡¯t be a snap decision, which Jazzy model will rev your motor and summon up the Force?
Most Jazzy wheelchair models have:
? Top speed of 5-6 MPH
? On board battery chargers
? Height adjustable seats/ high back-seat option
? Multiple seating options
? Wide turning radius of 20-21 inches
? Weight capacity of 300 pounds, customizable to 400
? Low center of gravity for a smooth ride
If you want more speed, the Jazzy 1122 Standard Power Wheelchair offers ActiveTrac suspension that increases top speed to 6 MPH. If you're driving on variable terrain (in the Death Star or on Naboo), the Jazzy 600 Standard Power Wheelchair lowers its OMNI-Casters to deal with that crack in the sidewalk or the pothole the city swore they'd fix. Mid-Wheel Drive 6 technology adds stability while you're riding into battle. It doesn't offer headlight or taillight options, so be careful in fog and at night¡ªgood advice anyway for everyone, especially Jedi knights. Whichever Jazzy wheelchair you choose, may the Force be with you.
Manual Jazzy Wheelchair
You love the idea of the Jazzy wheelchair, but you're more accustomed to life in the slow lane. You wonder, does Pride Mobility offer a manual Jazzy wheelchair?
Sorry to disappoint. Quantum Rehab, one of Pride Mobility's family of wheel chair brands, furnishes manual wheelchairs. But the Jazzy wheelchair remains, well, jazzy, and you can still push a manual wheelchair under your own power.
While Quantum Rehab's Stylus model is a lightweight dynamo, you still want the Jazzy wheelchair. The Stylus has more options than your car's power steering, but still you miss the Jazzy design. You're in no hurry to need an electric wheelchair though, so you roll on.
If you need a scooter, however, to zip around and the manual wheelchair is tiring you out, you can hop a Go-Go Travel Scooter. Feels just like when you were a kid...it's love all over again. Sorry, Jazzy wheelchair...finding wheelchair brands to replace you wasn't as hard as I imagined it might be.
Sunrise Medical Choices
Other Sunrise Medical wheel chair brands? It's the Quickie or nothing else! There's no reasoning with fanatics, and wheel chair brands are fair game for an argument. But if you say that there isn't more than one Sunrise medical wheel chair brand, you lose. Sunrise Medical produces:
? Guardian power wheelchairs and scooters
? The ever-popular Quickie wheelchair
? Breezy wheelchairs
? Hoyer transport chairs and manual everyday wheelchairs
? Quickie's cousin, the Zippie
? For kids, the Mighty Lite Wheelchair by Kid Kart
How can you ever choose? If you're a kid, your choices are more obvious. Zip along on the Zippie, which tilts and rotates, or the Mighty Lite, which if you're a kid you've probably outgrown. For adults, we like the Guardian scooters and power wheelchairs, especially the Guardian Aspire, as streamlined as a Jazzy wheelchair, or the easy-to-transport Guardian Trek 3 or Trek 4 scooter. Quickie's manual wheelchairs maneuver easily and fit, say, in the back of a compact sports car such as a Volvo. Who knew finding wheelchair brands to suit you could be so simple?
Be sure to check with your wheelchair seller or the Sunrise Medical wheel chair Web site itself (www.sunrisemedical.com). Models such as the Chameleon have been discontinued. Still, you're a die-hard Quickie devotee, and that's not an enthusiasm that will fade in a quickie trip around the block.
Reclining Wheelchairs
Your back is sore from being in the chair all day. You wish you could just recline, but you're far away from your Barcalounger. For would-be couch potatoes who deserve a break, wheelchair manufacturers offer tilt and recline wheelchairs.
Even Miss Wheelchair needs a respite from her queenly duties. She could choose our favorite models:
? Sunrise Medical wheel chair Quickie recliner
? Sunrise Medical wheel chair Guardian recliner
? Invacare wheel chair 9000 XTR recliner
Miss Wheelchair would, of course, want to make sure that whatever recliner she chooses, no matter which of the major wheel chair brands sponsors the pageant, that her recliner wheelchair has heavy-duty inner liners that keep the seat and back from stretching too much. The Invacare Tracer SX5R Recliner Wheelchair is a perfect choice.
Ahhh. Relax, put your feet up, lean back and enjoy the day at the rubber-chicken banquet or in your office cubicle where you're pretending to be Miss Wheelchair for the day.
Long-Distance Guardian Wheelchair and Scooter
You have to navigate the Washington Mall or the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport or the Appian Way...you're in for a long day's journey into night. You need a Sunrise Medical wheel chair, or a chair from one of the other wheel chair brands such as an Invacare wheel chair, that's built for stamina. Sunrise Medical is one of the oldest firms, and it's hard to argue with history.
The light Guardian Microlite Ruby can go the distance. Whether you're on that scenic tour into Rome, and all roads and wheelchairs lead there, or that Greyhound bus tour or airport dash, you can charge your chair through the joystick or the battery to keep on truckin'.
Don't forget the Microlite Garnet, a lightweight scooter that can also cruise along the base of the Great Wall of China. With a Sunrise Medical wheel chair, you can broaden your horizons and keep going till you're ready to stop for sushi in Tokyo. Finding wheelchair brands that you like and trust is a good feeling.
Large or Small Manufacturers
Everyone grouses about the big companies, but when we choose a wheelchair, we go for the big wheelchair manufacurers and wheel chair brands. Then we find that mom-and-pop company and we think, "Small business. I should support them." Even if you're Miss Wheelchair sponsored by the major wheel chair brands.
It's tempting to choose an Invacare wheel chair, Jazzy wheelchair, Sunrise Medical wheel chair, but many people have appreciated personalized service. Still, that doesn't mean the big wheelchair manufacturers are uncaring Big Business behemoths. In fact, there are several advantages to choosing recognized wheel chair brands:
? Parts more readily available away from home
? Multiple lines of products, with more options and accessories than you can think of
? Stable companies with ongoing research and healthy product sales to fund research
? Dealers have more experience repairing them, at home or on the road
? Will often refer customers to competitors if the manufacturer doesn't have the right chair
? Medicare is more likely to recognize them and cover major sellers/manufacturers
Still, small business, too, has that can-do spirit you cherish. Small business can give you a leg up or helping hand with these pluses:
? More time to spend on customer service and on individual needs
? May specialize in, say, scooters or transport chairs, or standing lifts for Parkinson's
? Local manufacturer may be more accessible, plus knows the market and the population
? Great if you want a custom chair
? Less money to spend on research but may be more experimental
? More options and more players mean more competition in the marketplace, which is better for you
Don't think you're contributing to the problem of Big Business (and what's so bad about big business anyway?) if you choose an Invacare wheel chair. After all, big and small companies have one thing in common: They want to help you preserve your independence and freedom of choice.