Recently there has been a lot of news and controversy regarding the new ADA requirements for swimming pool accessibility and hotels. Basically whether hotels should be given more time to make their pools accessible (even though I believe they’ve had enough time). Anyway the most common way these hotels will be making their swimming pools accessible will be with lifts. Most of these lifts are basically patient lifts (hoyer lifts) mounted to the side of a pool. Usually the person using the lift will require assistance from someone else to get into the lift and be lowered into the pool. A better and more independent swimming pool lift is this one by Poolpod Products of the United Kingdom.

Olympics Driven

The Poolpod wheelchair swimming pool lift was developed in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics:

When the Olympic Delivery Authority for London 2012 could not find a pool lift (a device to assist disabled people to enter and exit a swimming pool) that satisfied their exacting requirements for functionality and accessibility, they launched an international competition to find the right design.

Independent Use

With the Poolpod, independent use is the key benefit. Where the user can use the lift without the aid of another person. First the user transfers onto a wheelchair specially made for the Poolpod. Transfer onto the wheelchair can be done in the privacy of a locker room. The user then puts on a wristband that can communicate with the Poolpd.

Getting Into The Water

At the side of the pool is the lift platform and tower a few feet away. The user then moves their wristband next to the up and down arrow controls on the tower. To go down the platform extends over the water and a gate opens. The user then moves into place on the platform and sets the brakes.

Once In The Water

Now the user again moves the wrist band to more arrows to go down. Once in the water the user swims out and back towards the tower. There are more up and down arrows located at the base of the tower to move the platform out of the water.

Conclusion

Movement of the Poolpod is a little slow and can take a few minutes to get fully in and out of the pool. However this could still be a significant time improvement over other lifts with the added benefit of independent use. Plus people who can walk but would have difficulty using the pool ladders can benefit from Poolpod. Right now there is only one pool in London but hopefully that will soon change. For more information on Poolpod visit www.PoolpdProducts.com.







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