To a family getting a new Complex Rehab
Technology (CRT) wheelchair, choosing a wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) might seem to
be the one part of the process they actually know.
But choosing the right WAV isn’t simple… a fact many
consumers learn when
they’re told the vehicle
they bought cannot be
retrofitted with a ramp or
isn’t a good fit for their
new power wheelchair.

Danny Langfield, CEO
of the National Mobility
Equipment Dealers
Association (NMEDA),
regularly hears of these
situations, he said in
a new podcast with
Mobility Management.
“Unfortunately, our dealer
members see this all the
time. It’s truly nobody’s fault. [The family is] looking to get
a vehicle, they’re looking to have it adapted, and they
almost certainly have never gone through a process like
that. So what do you do when you need a vehicle? You
go to a car dealer. And what do car dealers do? They
sell cars, so they might not be hyper-attuned to [wheelchair
users’] needs. There are very few vehicles that
make good candidates for a full-on wheelchair-accessible
vehicle conversion.

“If we can have that conversation earlier in the process
with your side of the industry — I’m talking about associations
we’re so close with, [such as] United Spinal, RESNA —
if we can have those conversations that there is a whole
industry built on the notion that folks with disabilities
need to be transported or drive themselves safely, and if
you start there, you eliminate so many problems.”

Inviting Mobility Dealers to the Evaluation

Buying a vehicle that cannot be converted can be
a costly mistake, Langfield acknowledged; when it
happens, NMEDA tries to find a dealer member who can
help resell it. Even better, though, is bringing the mobility
dealer into the seating and mobility evaluation process
earlier, alongside other specialists, such as speech
language pathologists or respiratory therapists.

“That would be fantastic,” Langfield said of such
potential collaborations. “As you mentioned all these
different specialists that may be involved, and thinking
of the automobility portion or that analysis, anything we
can do to help, I would be a big, big fan of that.

“Our dealers are not regular car dealers. The normal
automotive dealer is about volume; they sell a lot of
vehicles, and the sales cycle is pretty short. People come
in, they have a pretty good idea of what they want, they
fight over the price, and maybe that day walk away with
the vehicle. A mobility equipment dealer knows that’s
not the way it’s going to go. So for them to be involved in
the setting you described would make perfect sense to
them. They’re in a consultive stance from the very beginning:
What is it that this client needs? From the vehicle
standpoint, of course, but then there’s the auto-adaptive
equipment. Are they going to drive, are they going to
be transported? If we could get involved at that level,
I think it could be extremely helpful. Not to keep going
back to those nightmare scenarios, but that’s how you
avoid them: You get the right expert in the room from the
beginning and get folks going down the right path.”

NMEDA Offers Adaptive Automotive Education

How serious is NMEDA about collaborating with the
Complex Rehab Technology industry? The NMEDA.org Web site offers free CEU classes: Check out Education/Allied Health Professional Education in the homepage
navigation bar. Sessions are aimed at occupational
and physical therapists and assistants, ATPs, and case
managers, among other healthcare professionals.

And speaking of clinicians: NMEDA’s Annual
Conference — now rescheduled for Jan. 15-17, 2022,
in Columbus, Ohio — is co-locating with the annual
conference for the Association for Driver Rehabilitation
Specialists (ADED).

“Any way we can be helpful, the members of our
association I guarantee would be delighted to do it,”
Langfield said. “At the NMEDA Web site, it’s as simple as
the Dealer Directory. It’s right there on the homepage —
you can figure out who your nearest dealer is. Give them
a buzz and say, ‘Do you think you can consult on this?
No guarantee it’s going to turn into a sale of any kind,
but we thought you might be able to be helpful.’ I’m
pretty sure they’re going to be there, close to 10 times out
of 10.”

To listen to Mobility Management’s podcast featuring Langfield, click HERE.