Forgive the cross-posting.

 

Below is an email that I received from a patient.  I take issue with the notion that it is unsafe to transfer a patient with a manual Hoyer lift by one person.  Yes, it may take longer because you have to take your time to check the patient’s position while you are operating the lift.  But I disagree that this is impossible to do this type of transfer with one person safely.  I have seen some situations where two people were needed because of lack of maneuvering space, but this is not the case with this patient.  She has a studio apartment that is very open, and there would be no maneuvering space issues.

 

The fact that the home care agency is not training their staff on manual lifts disturbs me.

 

It has been shocking to me how many home OT/PT’s do not know how to properly use a Hoyer lift.

 

On another note, I always recommend that out patients get U or divided leg slings.  These slings can be easily placed on the patient and taken off because the patient is not sitting on the sling.  This seems to be a strange request to most home medical supply companies as well as home aids and therapists. 

 

I would like to hear others comments/experiences with these issues.  This has come up quite often, and I cannot ignore these issues any longer.

 

Thanks,

 

Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP

Assistive Technology Specialist

The ALS Association, Greater New York Chapter

116 John Street, Suite 1304

New York, NY 10038

Phone: 212-720-3054

Fax: 212-619-7409

Email: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx

www.als-ny.org

 

"One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar"  -- Helen Keller

 

Hi,
Thank you sending the PT to me from Gentiva.  She is excellent, and Gentiva seems like a nice little agency.

Sadly, I must inform you of one disappointment in this process, and of which you should be aware, when making referrals in the futue.  One of the reasons this PT was ordered was to train my aides how to use the Hoyer® lift that I have had in my house for a couple of years.  As you probably know, the insurance only gives the manual kind, that is operated by hydraulics,  and takes some physical effort from the aide.  The kind in use in home health aide training classes, and in most institutions is the newer electric model with remote control.

We brought the Hoyer up from my basement, and the PT determined that it is not safe to use the manual lift with only one person, because one needs to operate the lift, and another should be spotting the patient.  The electric lift is different, because the aide can be operating the lift with the remote control, while spotting the patient.  I have seen a manual Hoyer operated by one person.  But, in today's litigious, liability-obsessed environment, a declaration of "unsafe" was enough to allow my aides to dismiss the lift as a possibility in my case.  What that means for me, personally, is critical. It means that once my disease progresses to the point where I can't stand ad pivot, I will not be able to stay in my home.  Since there is only one aide at a time, and no family member, this kind of lift has been sitting in my basement, rented all these months for nothing.

Clearly, I need an electric lift.  Is there one available from the loan closet?  As you must know, the rental on this model is prohibitive, and not covered by insurance.  If your loan closet does not have this kind of lify, ALSA should acquire some, since this is the newest technology, and it is what the home-care agencies are using to train home health aides.  As a matter of fact, when the Gentiva PT and her supervisor saw my lift, they had a good laugh and said it was "archaic". 

Please look into this for me, and for situations like this with other patients in the future.  We should also join to advocate for patients in regard to Medicare coverage of DME's [which is already a sticky subject] and their relevance to ALS patients, many of whom don't have the upper-body control and/or abiliity to use their hands to stay in the sling securely, a situation which makes the use of an electric device the only practical method for transfer, because it frees up the caregiver[s] to give the patient more support.  

I look forward to hopefully arriving at a better solution to this matter.