Especially suitable for Hospitals and residential care premises, but also suitable for many other situations such as schools, offices, hotels etc where mobility impaired people require assistance to evacuate. They require little training and virtually no maintenance.
The SKI PAD is a vital aid in the rapid evacuation of patients or residents etc when doorways or stairways are too narrow for the Ski Sheet, OR in many situations where non-ambulant people (such as wheelchair users) require assistance to evacuate from a building.
There is no ‘minimum’ width of stairway that a Ski Pad can be used, however the narrower the stair, the more difficult it is to negotiate, especially when there are half landings or tight turns. A 1500mm stair would provide the ideal width for ease of manoeuvrability, but Ski Pads have been used on stairs as narrow as 800mm. In such cases to negotiate a half landing or 180o turn, the cross straps can be used for pulling rather than the normal pull straps, this allows better control. It is also wise to consider the weight of potential passengers, the bigger they are, the harder they are to pull, especially around tight turns.
The Ski Pad can also be used for people in wheelchairs, and it is relatively easy to transfer someone from a wheelchair onto a Ski Pad using the following technique. Position the wheelchair at one end of the Ski Pad with the passenger facing away from the Pad. With one person at each side of the wheelchair, carefully tip the wheelchair over backwards till it is laid on its back. The occupant can now be pulled backwards onto the Ski Pad. This method requires no direct lifting, and is therefore much safer for staff from a manual handling aspect. The operation can be made easier by the use of a ‘sliding board’ such as the Ross Maxi-glide.
A modified version of the Pad is available for people with brittle bones. This version has double thickness padding to give extra protection to the passenger. When used for transporting someone with brittle bones plenty of padding between the passenger and straps is essential.
The Ski Pad is kept in a wipe clean storage bag and can be mounted on hooks on the wall at the head of a stair allowing rapid deployment when the Velcro fastening is released.
Suitable for use with patients, residents or any non-ambulant person, the evacuation sheet is instantly available in emergency situations, protecting the passenger during evacuation along exit routes and down stairs.
The Ski Pad is tested to 160kg, but the maximum weight is best kept below 120kg for balance and safety reasons, however a specially designed lifting sling (the PROMOVE SLING) is available for bariatric people. This requires several people to use depending on the weight of the evacuee.
A budget slip mat, the E-Pad is now also available. This is a thinner mat (38mm foam padding) that is suitable for people with no obvious sensitivity issues or brittle bones etc. It is suitable for use on stairs with rounded nosings but may not be ideal for use on metal edged steps with square edges.
Transfer from a wheelchair to either mat is relatively easy. The Wheel chair is reversed onto the mat and then lowered backwards onto the mat along with the passenger. The passenger is then slid backwards onto the mat and the wheelchair removed.
