Jet-Setting in 2010

While holiday travel is winding down, the start of a new year brings plans for business and pleasure travel for many people. For those who use durable medical equipment, including mobility equipment, travel can present significant logistical challenges. Travelers with disabilities can overcome some of these issues by being informed and prepared.

Planning ahead is the key to navigating travel challenges. Your MDA clinic team is ready to help those who use assistive equipment make sound travel planning choices in 2010, along with other community resources that can help provide additional guidance or assistance.

Getting started:

• While many individuals have adapted their homes to allow for the use of mobility devices, most have found that the public definition of “accessible” varies greatly.  When making hotel arrangements, be sure to ask exactly what is meant by an “accessible” room.

• If traveling by vehicle, remember that one in four people experiences a roadside emergency each year. For people who require wheelchairs for mobility, this can be a particularly difficult situation. ADA Nationwide Roadside Assistance of Nuevo, Calif., provides emergency roadside assistance tailored to the needs of people who use mobility devices and modified vehicles. The membership-based, for-profit travel club works for more than 47,000 towing and road service providers around the country.
  
  If you are looking to purchase or rent a modified vehicle, there are a host of resources available, including:
  
  Wheelchair Accessible Vans — includes a large inventory of wheelchair accessible vehicles and information about financing.
  
  National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) — nonprofit trade association consisting of mobility equipment dealers, driver rehabilitation specialists and other professionals dedicated to broadening the opportunities for people with disabilities who want to drive or need to be transported in modified vehicles; site includes a zip code locator to identify mobility dealers in your area.
  
  Adaptive Driving Alliance (ADA) — group of vehicle modification dealers who provide van conversions, hand controls, wheelchair lifts, scooter lifts, tie downs, conversion van rentals, paratransit and other adaptive equipment for disabled drivers and passengers.
  
  Wheelchair Getaways — rents accessible vehicles and includes a listing of wheelchair vans for purchase on its Web site.

• If you are flying this year and use mobility equipment, remind the gate or ticket counter agent about your needs at connecting airports — before you board. Also, ground agents are better equipped than flight attendants to arrange airport service.

• If flying with respiratory equipment, be aware of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) May 13 ruling requiring commercial airlines to allow passengers to use respiratory equipment during a flight if the equipment bears a label saying it meets all FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) safety requirements. The ruling affects all commercial planes with a 19-seat capacity or greater.

• Utilize your local MDA team to tap into travel resources in your community. For example, organizations like the Open Doors Organization (ODO) provide a host of information.

• Do some travel reading. The book Barrier-Free Travel: A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers is essential reading for every traveler with mobility limitations. With more than 100 new photographs and updated travel rules and regulations affecting access inside and outside of the United States, this book gives you the tools and resources to navigate most situations. To read more about this guide or to place an order, please visit Barrier-Free Travel at http://barrierfreetravel.net/.  

Eric Lipp, ODO’s executive director, recently informed MDA that people should “continue to travel and try not to be afraid to overcome the obstacles.” Consumer education is the key, Lipp says, and if you’re flying and faced with a problem at the airport, talk to the airport's Complaints Resolution Official (CRO), a specially trained person available during operation of the airline, because he or she “will have an answer or can get the answer for you.” CROs help advocate on the behalf of travelers with disabilities.

 In order to assist people with disabilities or other medical conditions, the Transportation Security Administration developed guidelines with input from various disability-related groups and organizations to aid in accessible travel. The Screening Tips for Persons with Disabilities, or Z-card, was a result of this collaboration. Once the guide was completed, TSA trained airport screeners to ensure effective, safe, comfortable, dignified and respectful screening at all TSA security checkpoints. Please contact your local MDA office at 800-572-1717 or email advocacy@mdausa.org to request your Z-card today.

MDA is interested in your travel tips, as well as learning about any obstacles that you’ve encountered while traveling. Please share your experiences — positive and negative — and e-mail us at advocacy@mdausa.org. 

For more information, be sure to read “Getting from Here to There” in the online version of Quest magazine.