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Engineers Send Innovative Wheelchairs to Haiti's Amputees and Disabled
Contact: Elaine Bible, University Communications, San Francisco State University, 415-405-3606, ebible@sfsu.edu; NOTE TO EDITORS: Photographs are available on request.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1 /Standard Newswire/ -- As Haiti struggles to cope with thousands of amputees and newly disabled people, an innovative engineering venture at San Francisco State University is sending specially designed, rugged wheelchairs to thousands of Haitians injured in the earthquake. Whirlwind Wheelchair has been designing wheelchairs for the Third World for 20 years and now their low-cost chairs - just $220 each - are on their way to Haiti where they will give earthquake victims the chance to continue working, traveling and raising their families.
"In Haiti, thousands of people have become severely disabled through leg loss and spinal cord injuries," said Ralf Hotchkiss, who teaches mechanical engineering at SF State and is co-founder of Whirlwind Wheelchair. "If the first thing they need is medical care, the second thing they need is mobility. Without mobility, people will be confined to their beds and won't be able to continue with their lives and help rebuild their country."
This SF State program's first shipment of wheelchairs for Haiti includes 350 of their RoughRider model, which is designed exactly for the kind of rough terrain and devastation found on Haiti's streets. The RoughRider uses off-road bicycle wheels and wide front caster wheels that can travel through mud and navigate uneven terrain. It is also designed with the user's needs in mind, for example with low arm rests that provide elbow clearance for daily tasks and a low seat frame that allows individuals to pick up their children.
The wheelchairs are manufactured through a network of Whirlwind Wheelchair factories all over the world and the chairs for Haiti will be delivered in April. Whirlwind's partner organization Handicap International, which has 100 staff on the ground in Haiti, will distribute the chairs through local temporary health centers. "Wheelchairs are critical, but they are not typically first wave emergency relief supplies and injured people need time for healing and rehabilitation to take place before they receive their wheelchair," Hotchkiss said.
"Our chairs have succeeded in more than 40 countries, used by more than 20,000 riders, and we are confident that they will be ideal for Haiti," Hotchkiss said. After becoming disabled 30 year ago, Hotchkiss created a chair for himself which evolved into one of the engineering program's unique designs. In 1989, he won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award for his work promoting mobility in the developing world.
In operation at the University for more than 20 years, Whirlwind Wheelchair is an example of how SF State is applying its expertise to critical community needs, both in the Bay Area and worldwide. The program has a proven track record providing low-cost solutions to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Whirlwind's expertise has earned the program a $5 million federal grant to create a blueprint that will improve the way the disability sector designs, manufactures and distributes products in the Third World.
For more information about SF State's Whirlwind Wheelchair program, visit www.wheelchairsforhaiti.org
