The Transportation Association of Maryland designates March as Wheelchair Safety and Securement Awareness Month. According to the United States Census, the percentage of individuals with disabilities that use public transportation is 6% and 3.3 million individuals over the age of 15 use mobility devices such as wheelchairs.

By bringing awareness to this issue, TAM hopes that all those who participate in the transportation of individuals with disabilities will take a moment during the month of March and review their processes and procedures for conducting these types of activities.

As part of our upcoming Wheelchair Securement month, TAM is proud to to offer a one-day workshop in advanced mobility device securement at the TAM training room, located at 901 Elkridge Landing Road  in Linthicum, MD 21090

.This training will take place on Wednesday, March 6 from 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM. Registration is $30 for TAM members ($60 for non-members), and is limited to one person per member organization attending. This is intended as a ‘train-the-trainer’ course, where your attendee will return and instruct others in proper technique. There is a limit of 40 total registrants for this workshop. TAM will provide lunch during this session.

Click here to Register!

NOTE: This is the same session TAM provided last march at RTA's facility in Howard County. We recommend that agencies send those who were unable to attend last year’s training.

The goal of Advanced Mobility Device Securement Workshop is to present, demonstrate, and practice problem-solving skills for securing powered mobility devices. After successfully completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the regulations and standards that govern the safe transport of mobility devices, as well as the industry factors that have led to so many mobility devices being difficult to secure and transport.
• Compare and differentiate between the various types of wheelchair securement equipment, occupant securements, and accessories.
• Apply the 3 essential principles needed to properly secure mobility devices.
• Apply the 3 essential principles needed to properly secure passengers in mobility devices using the occupant securements.
• Differentiate between WC19 complaint wheelchairs and Non-WC19 wheelchairs, and how to approach securement with both types of wheelchairs.
• Understand and avoid common securement pitfalls, problems, and errors that lead to most wheelchair incidents.
• Conduct a pre-securement assessment to determine if a particular device should be transported and explore options to mitigate the risk (for both the agency and passenger) associated with transporting the device.
• Understand and apply six problem-solving strategies to more effectively secure difficult mobility devices.
• Understand and apply six problem-solving strategies to use the occupant securement more effectively in situations where the passenger’s disability or the design of the device inhibit proper belt use.
• Effectively secure and safely transport three and four-wheel scooters.
• Develop policy recommendations and best practices that will increase their agency’s competency at handling difficult to secure mobility devices, reduce their liability, and increase passenger safety.

Wheelchair Safety Posters