Durfold is pleased to present our new patient transfer arm option. Through its design, our transfer arm provides numerous functional, safety and infection control benefits not found anywhere else. Please review the below features for further information regarding its unique design and its superior capabilities.
Functional Features
Our transfer arm can be added to one or both sides of the recliner, which allows the recliner to have a transfer arm closest to the bed, regardless of whether the room layout requires the recliner to be on the left or right side of the bed.
Even with both arms being allowed to fold down for transfer or sleeping purposes, the user or the caregiver has easy and full access to the recliner’s activators so that the user can be re-positioned at any time.
Many users who have slept in a sleeper recliner are constrained from a comfortable position due to the recliner’s arms not allowing adequate room for knees and hips to “stretch out”. With both of our transfer arms able to be folded down, those constraints are removed for a better and more comfortable night’s sleep.
Patient/Staff Safety Features
Solutions that incorporate the removal of the armrest are deemed less beneficial because of the susceptibility of the armrest to be lost or misplaced. Another problem with removing the armrest is that it presents a tripping or falling hazard and injury for caregivers or others in the immediate vicinity of the seating product.
Weaker and elderly patients find it very difficult to perform a seated transfer while having to support their weight with only the strength in their arms. This is required, unfortunately, when a recliner only allows one arm to be positioned away for the transfer, thereby, forcing the user to use a higher gripping surface (the top of the arm) to assist in supporting their weight.
Our transfer arms allow these patients to have a lower surface to place their hands so that they can lock their arms while utilizing their larger core muscles to support their weight during transfer.
Infection Control Features
Some solid panel transfer armrests require a substantial amount of additional cleaning and sterilization due to their additional surface area and some of this surface area is semi-concealed and is at risk of being inadvertently missed or disregarded during the cleaning process. Also, due to its lack of air circulation through the concealed areas, if the area is cleaned the moisture left behind and not allowed to air dry is a prime habitat for dangerous pathogens to flourish.
Some transfer arm solutions utilize pegs, columns or mechanisms that require cavities or holes to be incorporated into the lower portion of the arm. These cavtities and holes are susceptible to allowing dirt, grime, bacteria and other pathogens to gather into and thus become an infection control and cleanliness concern as cleaning or sterilizing inside the cavities is difficult, if not impossible. Further, the fabric’s surface area between the top and lower arm panels adds additional semi-concealed areas that typical wiping and cleaning could miss and further negate infection control protocols.
Our transfer arms do not incorporate any open cavities or holes into the arm proper component and, thereby, avoids areas that can be inhibited by dirt, grime, bacteria or other pathogens, which are difficult to access and clean or disinfect. Plus, our transfer arms consist of essential structural parts without panel construction, further reducing the amount of surface area to be cleaned and sterilized. Also, with the exposed structure and the minimal amount of material used, no concealed areas are present that could be easily and inadvertently overlooked when the product is cleaned or disinfected.
Interested in Durfold seating for your hospital?
Need more information? A Durfold representative can help you determine your needs and recommend products that best fulfill your requirements. Let’s get started!
