How do wheelchair users escape in an emergency when their wheelchair is not available to them? Read this compelling article by John Morris of WheelchairTravel.org and see if your presumption is correct.
Contemplate this…the airlines have no good plan for evacuating disabled passengers in a disaster. Furthermore, their assumptions are based on a study published by the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) in 1977 which was performed on a Boeing 727 mock up…FORTY years ago. Things have changed. More passengers are crammed into airplanes, distance between rows is shrinking, and more disabled people are enjoying travel than ever before. The ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act) was signed into law in 1986 afforded people with disabilities the accommodations they need to comfortably travel, but the evacuation piece to ensure their safety has never evolved. ADAPTS solves that unmet safety need with a device that swiftly and safely carries wheelchair users off the airplane when all fellow passengers escape. It turns nearby passengers into rescuers so the person with a mobility issue doesn’t have to wait for first responders to come to get them. Lives are lost when time is lost.
Call to Action
Please help us bring this product to market by backing ADAPTS on Kickstarter today. Our funding deadline is December 18th, less than 2 weeks away. Then, take a few minutes to access change.org to sign our petition asking Congress to commission new FAA safety studies needed to update procedures for disabled passengers. And if you are a wheelchair user, please fill out these survey questions to add your voice to our database for baseline safety knowledge. Lastly, follow ADAPTS on Instagram and Twitter as adapts_team, on LinkedIn as ADAPTS, and on Facebook as adapts.org.