Hoyer or Surehands Lift?

[Patrick Madsen]

My wife wants me to check out a lift for emergencies. Any suggestions for patient lifts? So far, we've looked at the Surehands and Hoyer lifts. I like the Surehands for the type of body lift device they have; I'm not sure if Hoyer has a similar device.

I know we want one that will be portable, ease for her etc. I don't want one with a sling. I saw the body grab one that Surehands has and thought it was acceptable.

Thanks for any input.

[Davey]

Originally Posted by Patrick Madsen

My wife wants me to check out a lift for emergencies. Any suggestions for patient lifts? So far, we've looked at the Surehands and Hoyer lifts. I like the Surehands for the type of body lift device they have; I'm not sure if Hoyer has a similar device.

I know we want one that will be portable, ease for her etc. I don't want one with a sling. I saw the body grab one that Surehands has and thought it was acceptable.

Thanks for any input.

With the Polairis Plus you can have any lift you want and not have to use a sling. I'm also looking at the Molift 150 due to how compact and foldable it is (albeit pricey).

[SCIfor55yrs.]

Davey,
Do you know someone who has a Polairis Plus? I have been trying to get more info about it but planet mobility does not respond to my emails. Also, someone mentioned that they heard the Polairis Plus has been discontinued. Finally, the BBB gives planet mobility an "F" rating and I have not been able to find any other seller.

[Davey]

Well crap! I first saw this in one of your earlier posts . I was really hoping it would be a solution. I too want this type of sling, but like the Molift better than any of the Surehand lifts.

[gac3rd]

Thanks for the heads up on Planet Mobility. Too bad since they list a wide variety at great prices. I cannot find a source at the moment, but I recall that T.H.E. Medical also got less than sterling reviews.

People who have Surehands seem to unanimously love them. I thought I wanted one, but could not use it because because my body won't fold. Just did not fit. However, it appears that the all that steel tubing might be at odds with ease of transport for your wife.

My solution was create my own sling that is just two straps made with padded seat belt webbing: one under my legs and one around my back under the armpits. My fused hips might be working to my advantage here. Now that I have used it for a few weeks the objections that I thought I had for a sling don't seem relevant. It works fine for me. Weighs much less than a pound, and is completely foldable. Trivial to transport.

[MSWIFE1]

We use the hoyer advance. It folds up and goes anywhere. Great battery life too.

[forestranger52]

I have a Surehands and I like it best because I hate being rolled into a sling in bed. It was impossible to get me straight in the sling and get set up tall in the wheelchair. Even with the surehands I need a little boost to sit up straight as I can not move myself.

I can put my underwear on in bed, pull my pants up to my hipps, hook up and when I am up in the air, pull my pants up all the way. No rolling around.

I think that a lot of lifts have toileting slings that would work well also.

[SCIfor55yrs.]

Originally Posted by gac3rd

T

My solution was create my own sling that is just two straps made with padded seat belt webbing: one under my legs and one around my back under the armpits. My fused hips might be working to my advantage here. Now that I have used it for a few weeks the objections that I thought I had for a sling don't seem relevant. It works fine for me. Weighs much less than a pound, and is completely foldable. Trivial to transport.

This approach was used at Kessler back in 1955-56 when I got rehabed there. Wonderfully simple and cheap. When lifted, it would pull us into a jack knife position with the lower legs dangling downward. The patient or therapist would hold the feet in toward the thighs so the belt would not straighten the legs, letting you fall. More recently I have been advised that the upper belt could possibly further damage my already shot shoulders. Also, one of my legs no longer has a hip joint and I am not certain how it would fare. I have not had the nerve to risk trying it now. We used the old Hoyer hydraulics that go back that far. During the 5 months I was at Kessler, I never heard of a problem occurring with this lift approach.

[MSspouse]

Originally Posted by Patrick Madsen

I know we want one that will be portable...

Don't know about all Hoyer branded lifts, but the one we (HM400 I think) had was all steel and fairly heavy. That would cut into the "portability" for people with limited lifting ability. It was much smaller too. I don't know that it would lifted high enough to get her off the bed, especially with something like the body support. Hoyer may have larger models though.

Our Surehands is mostly aluminum as are many of the other higher priced units. If you can't get a Surehands Body Support, the Arjo Opera lift looks interesting to me. There is one on ebay right now at a very good price. They lift vertically instead of an arc and have a mechanism to tilt the patient in the sling. I haven't seen one in person but they look like high quality. Probably not portable though. I've also seen many other brands of used lifts on ebay that appear to be aluminum construction.

[SCI-Nurse]

For compact use, and also use for travel, I recommend either the Hoyer Advance or the Molift Smart. The LikoLight is also an option. The Italian Borringia Flex-Lift is great if you can get your hands on one.

Not everyone can handle the SureHands Body Support sling. Be sure to try it before buying. We loved my mother's for years, but she can no longer safely use it due to her increasing trunk instability...it hungs you so tightly that it makes breathing in it difficult for her.

MSspouse, the Arjo Opera can only be used with the Arjo brand clip slings. We have one at work. It is nice, but you need to know that. It is also very bulky for storage. The Liko Golvo might be able to be adapted to the SureHands Body Support, but you would have to do that yourself. It is not designed for that, and neither company would help with the modifications due to liability issues.

(KLD)