Opinions on Hospital Beds?

[ChesBay]

About 7 years ago I purchased an Invavare electric hospital bed ( model 5410IVC) . I don?t like using a hospital bed but it has served as a good way to achieve ?gravity transfers? and I?ve beefed it up with a better mattress, Roho overlay.

My question: the motor seems to be going and I?ve started to order another bed through Insurance and DME. (I?ll pay difference for all electric.) It occurred to me that I should give the DME the exact Invacare model # that?s been working for me. When I spoke to DME today she said they would be getting me a ?Drive? brand bed. I am most comfortable getting brand and model that has been working for me. I am concerned about transfer / falls. DME is still waiting for Dr RX so I?ve told them not to order without consulting me. Inclined to think ? if it ain?t broke don?t fix it? and special order Invacare bed.

Does anyone have opinions or experiences on Drive vs. Invacare beds?
Thanks

[Art454]

Beds are the worse because of all the different mattress out there. You can't buy a motor for it at 7 years old?

[SCI-Nurse]

Be sure your physician writes in the prescription that you require a full-electric (not semi-electric) in order to self-manage autonomic dysreflexia episodes. Also, you may ask him to specify a non-springed bed deck (which is really needed for support and better use of a specialty mattress). You should also get one specified that has the ability to go low to the floor (floor to deck distance of less than 8") in order to do downhill wheelchair to bed transfers.

(KLD)

[Scott C4/5]

Drive seems to be cheaper quality to me. I had to switch over to Drive from Invacare like maybe 10 years ago. My Drive bed has broke several times and I've had to have the motor replaced about 3 or 4 times and the entire bed replaced once as well. Although it seems that everything is being built cheaper and cheaper so for all I know, Invacare may be the same by now.

[ChesBay]

Thanks so much to everyone. This is exactly the information I am looking for.

KLD- your advice and expertise is invaluable as always. You have raised some issues I had not thought of. Thank you. I am copying as a PDF file and faxing your recommendations to my Physiatrist.

Art - I will consider the idea of a motor replacement.

Scott - your experience and opinions on the "Driver bed" are valuable. I have had good luck with the Invacare so I will stick with it. There's nothing like another user's experience to help with decisions.

Again, thanks to everyone.

[Scott C4/5]

Glad to help...

[pete4sake]

If Drive beds are similar to other drive stuff definitely lower quality

[ancientgimp]

I recently bought an Invacare CS7. It lowers to within 7" from floor to top of frame, raises to 30". Has full head and foot adjustability. Motors are so quiet you can barely hear them. A good place to research options is Spinlife. I researched there but bought through local DME who set the bed up and will service. I bought out of pocket due to the increasing inflexibility of Medicare re choice. This bed will replace one of our 10 year old Transfermasters which has a sick sounding motor.

[nmireles]

I would definitely stay away from the Drive Brand. Definitely Invacare all the way. Trust me I own a dme store and have been selling both products for over 15 years. Invacare is a lot better product and requires less repairs and service calls. I am speaking from experience and very rarely sell Drive products unless customer is adamant that's what they want.

[Cris]

Never used a hospital bed, but as the years go marching on my ability to to do uphill transfers no longer exists.

After reading the posts in here about the bed going down to the 7 or 8 inches and remember the way I got off the floor was by crawling up on to my full-size bed at 24".

That is one hell of a difference height to be dragging myself up. Remember one time transferring from chair to chair (power to manual or vice a versa) and my push chair got out of the way and was stuck in between them. Couldn't go left couldn't go right and remember thinking you're going down. Been in that situation several times, you're not on the ground, but there is nowhere else to go. :-)

Called my insurance company and it appears that they cover any bed the doctors going to write a prescription for, specifically a full electric bed.

Rarely raise the head of the bed when in the hospital because my scoliosis causes me to curve off the bed. Also have always ate laying down (in rehab they tilted me back for lunch) because eating crashes my already low blood pressure.

Ignoring the cost what is the absolute best hospital bed to get? My biggest requirement is raising and lowering the height of the bed for transfers and reliability.