How Can You Ensure Your Senior Parent Has Transportation To Medical Appointments?
When your senior parent is unable to drive to medical appointments, your family might have to take turns ensuring that he or she makes it to the offices or clinics. Unfortunately, the family might not always be available, which could lead to missed appointments. To avoid this, an alternative or backup mode of transportation should be arranged. To help select the right transportation, here is what you need to know:
What Are Your Options?
There are several options available for transporting your parent, including calling a taxi. However, a taxi driver is likely not trained to handle any medical emergencies that can sometimes come with transporting seniors. If your parent uses a wheelchair or other assistive mobility device, the taxi might not be equipped to store the device.
You also have the option of booking a non-emergency ambulance. An ambulance is one of the more expensive options though. Your parent's insurance might not cover the cost of the non-emergency transport.
A popular option that is affordable and offers the care that your parent needs is a handicap transportation service. The transportation companies have a range of vehicles that are fitted to store any type of mobility device. The staff are also trained to handle medical emergencies. Not only can you be sure that your parent is safely transported, you can save. The service is often covered by insurance.
What Should You Look for in a Transportation Company?
Ideally, you should assess the services offered by the company and the skills of the staff before booking transportation for your parent. There are several characteristics that you should look for during your assessments to indicate whether the company is right for your parent.
For instance, the training of the staff matters. Not only should the staff have received training, but there should be requirements in place for continuing education.
In addition to this, you should ask about the tracking of the transportation vehicles. Many companies now use GPS to track their vehicles to ensure they are being driven at a safe distance. This can help guarantee that your parent is being safely transported.
You also want to be sure the staff knows how to properly lift and transfer your parent, if necessary. For instance, if your parent needs to be lifted, you need to know if a two-man technique is used to ensure the safety of your parent.
Before deciding on transportation, consult with a handicap transportation service to learn all the benefits of booking your parent with the company. Contact a company like Dallas Wheelchair Ride for more information and assistance.
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