People who have suffered permanent physical injury or an illness that crippled them, tend to have a difficult time walking from one place to another. A transport chair is specifically designed to be pushed by a caretaker, or a person other than the wheelchair user. Travel chairs can be most commonly found in healthcare facilities such as retirement homes. Usually a caregiver will propel the elderly user in the chair, which makes their daily living much easier.

The reason this type of chair makes so much sense when it comes to retirement homes is that caretakers can relocate patients from one space to another within a few minutes with very little effort. It can also be very useful when it comes to traveling on the road or boarding a flight, it can be folded and placed behind the seat of a car or in a storage space.

Difference Between Manual and Transport Wheelchairs

The most obvious components of a transport chair are the four small wheels that are standard with all transport chairs. Usually a manual wheelchair will have 2 small wheels in the front to allow a good turning radius, and large wheels on the back to allow the user to propel on their own. With transport wheelchairs, large rear wheels are not necessary because at all times the chair will be pushed by an individual other than the person in the chair.

Transport chairs tend to be a whole lot lighter than their manual counterpart. This is because it is made to be compact and does not need all the extra “fluff” accessories that tend to weigh down manual chairs. They are also usually a lot narrower in width than most manual chairs. This is to allow the user to fit through narrow hallways or doorways when traveling indoors.

Since transport chairs are designed to be very lightweight, they are very easy to push for caregivers, without exerting too much energy.