Active Mobility Center at Medtrade Orlando

Last Week (Oct 8-10) I attended Medtrade East, a yearly event where manufacturers of Home Medical Equipment present their products to equipment providers. Many new products and vendors provide a resource for offerings to people recovering, rehabing or requiring equipment for life. 

I have been attending Medtrades since the early 1990's, in a time where equipment funding was much better than today; and it showed with the event's attendance. Medtrade used to take up the entire convention center, and this year only spread 19 rows.  This proves that this industry is hurting and needs your support to ensure it is there for future generations.

This year, there were very few rehab (complex rehab) companies exhibiting. Many companies providing retail and products not affected by the Medicare competitive bidding program.

Some of the new items that I thought could help our customers were;

Environmental Controls- these controls allow a mobility challenged user to use voice ,touch, or other input to operate and control items around the home including the TV, Radio, Lights, Appliances, Door Openers, Electric Beds and more.  In the past these systems were clunky, complicated and very expensive. I was impressed a few companies using tablets and smart phones to operate home devices.

Beach Powered Wheelchairs- it was interesting to see a beach powered wheelchair for under $7000 that fits on an adaptive van lift. This will certainly offer more people access to the beach as well non paved areas.

Rifton Toileting Chair- rifton has redesigned it's toileting chair to allow attachment to multiple bases, including a tub base, and a tilt in space base. Their new design is much improved from the current version and will release shortly.

New Information Companies- there were some companies that provide some interesting information management systems that can help efficiency and the paper process.

Ram Mounts- the Ram company is making several mounts to be used on wheelchairs including, smart phone, tablet, cup holders, lap top computers, and much more.  This will allow wheelchair, scooter and powered wheelchair users to be more functional and have increase Access.

Modular Ramps- there are more companies offering more options of modular ramps. Once only available in aluminum are now available in wood and steel allowing for more options and reduced costs.

Portable Scooters- there are more companies offering foldable and compact scooter devices; some which can fit in a suitcase. This makes sense as the baby boomers are aging and need more mobility options.

ASL- Adaptive Switch Labs has some new switch options allowing powered wheelchair drivers additional options.

Pride / Quantum- has an increased number of accessories for their powered wheelchairs including cup holders, hydration systems, cell phone holders and more.

Although the show was small, with the reduced traffic attendees were able to navigate the show floor and spend more time with the vendors learning about what is new and what can help our community.

This article was written by Carey Britton, Seating and Mobility Specialist for Active Mobility Center. Carey can be reached at (954) 946-5793 or at cbritton@wheelchairguys.com