Just Charge It!

Blog July 5, 2013 – – Friday

I use a power chair you all know that I by now been one of the major drawbacks of the power chair the chair's inability to maintain a charge in its batteries over an extended period of time. When I first started using the power chair most chairs and the chairs I used had onboard chargers. So if you're out cruising around and you noticed your chair was low on power you just find an outlet and plug in. But a few years ago I noticed that shares no longer have onboard chargers. You charge your chair overnight and hoped you would have enough power get through your daily needs. I have to admit this freaked me out. I don't know if it's because I'm a big guyor I just get lame batteries but I rarely get the length of charge I need to get through day. Now, in all honesty, I must admit my chair has never failed me. I've always been able to get where I needed to go and back again. True my red emergency light may have been flashing like crazy but I was stranded. Still though I felt I needed to be proactive and I started carrying a charger. If a person were to buy a new charger the cost would be spent but fortunately for me I am aware of a number of stockpiles of used chargers and I've been able to grab a couple can have them at places I frequent plus I carry smaller trickle charger in my backpack so I feel fairly secure.

The trickle charger is okay but it's very slow whereas the new industry chargers which come with the new power chair packs a very strong initial charge and then trickles towards the end of the charge cycle. A couple years ago I began thinking why not have a charger placed in essential areas where people who use our chairs my frequent I. E. Hospitals, markets, libraries,university campuses, state offices in so. Why not? Then when a chair would be running low on power consumer just plug in and be underway in 30 min. or so.

In my retirement life, a couple times a week I go to a rehab facility to work out. I travel by train and bus to get to my destination. I also spend a significant amount of time traveling on streets in my chair, significantly depleting my batteries. This was not a problem when my rehab facility was linked with the University medical center rehab department and there was always a charger there I could use,but when they moved a few months ago this is no longer the case. I now go to Out Patient rehab. I contacted the director of this program on my second or third visit to see what it would take for them to get the charger at the new facility. I figured he just deep-sixed the idea but surprised two days ago when I was working out and he approached me and told me he'd spoken with the medical director of outpatient rehab the the idea was great. I must admit I was shocked. I know this is going to be a long process, I know how bureaucracies operate but it sounds as if something is happening. They are talking about finding a universal charger which I don't think exists but if I gently prod them along maybe just maybe we can bring about change in charge.