Wheelchair Instructions

Wheelchairs provide the gift of accessibility for those with disabilities. Many buildings today have mechanisms in place to make everything wheelchair accessible. A replacement for walking, the standard wheelchair has wheel locks, a padded chair and footplates. The chair is used for those who cannot walk due to injury, illness or disabilities.

Instructions

Unfolding

• 1

  Tilt the chair to the right- or left-hand side so one set of wheels is off the ground.

• 2

  Push down slightly on the middle of the folded seat, which should be folded in half between the two armrests. Also press inward on the flexed back, which is folded in half, pointed away from the armrests, causing the wheels to move apart.

• 3

  Press down fully on the middle of the seat until the wheels are completely apart and the chair is unfolded.

• 4

  Press the foot plates down from the vertical, upright position, where they are parallel to the leg rests, to the horizontal position, where they are perpendicular to the leg rests and parallel to the floor or ground. These are maneuverable, but they are held in this position by the foot of the individual using the chair.

• 5

  Adjust the length of the leg rest so that the individual's legs and feet fit comfortably and properly onto the foot rest, with the entire bottom of the foot held securely without having the legs press up on the knees. This is done by loosing the leg rest mechanism, adjusting them so they are at the right height, and then tightening them again. The leg rests are the long metal poles, stretching from the seat, downward at the front of the chair and hold the foot rests.

Folding

• 6

  Press underneath the center of the seat.

• 7

  Push out the middle of the back of the chair, away from the seat.

• 8

  Bring the two wheels together, while continuing to fold the seat up and the back of the chair out.

• 9

  Lift the inside edges of the foot plates to make them vertical. These are easily swung up because there is no locking mechanism keeping them in place; they are held in place, when in use, by the individual's feet.

• 10

  Loosen the leg rest mechanism by loosening the elevation release mechanism, usually by twisting it counterclockwise, and push the foot plates as high as they can go to make the chair as compact as possible. Tighten the mechanisms by screwing them clockwise again.