Brayden Watts (left) with Raging Bull Medical Supplies Inc., demonstrates an innovative handlebar extension for wheelchairs. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

pushing the invention up north

Wheelchair innovation could help hospital and care home staff during COVID-era and beyond

Dec 12, 2020 | 6:00 PM

Two men behind central Alberta-based Raging Bull Medical Supplies Inc. weren’t thinking they could help people during a global pandemic when they secured exclusive Canadian rights to an innovative piece of equipment about a year ago.

Brayden Watts and Hugh Danielson were visiting the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where a special wheelchair handlebar extension — invented by Centicare Corporation — was being utilized by health care workers.

“They were having a theft problem and wheelchairs were going missing. Nurses were also experiencing injuries from pushing them,” says Watts. “So Centicare designed these handle extensions, and then theft went down to zero because it made them too tall to get into a vehicle. They also saved millions on wrist and back injuries.”

Since coming to a patent agreement for use north of the border, manufacturing of the regular model has begun in Red Deer, while a folding variant is made in Leduc.

Raging Bull was hoping to get into hospitals and care homes before the pandemic hit to try and sell units or ideally garner a contract, but that was halted due to pandemic restrictions.

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Now they want to get the word out because it can actually help in adhering to distancing guidelines.

“Typically when people go to push a wheelchair, they are pushing a bigger and hevier person, and they’re often hunched over the patient. That’s where back and wrist injuries happen,” Watts explains. “With these, you’re standing up straight and it’s also causing a greater distance between you and the person in the chair. In that way, we think it’ll help limit spread to the elderly retirement homes.”a

Each regular unit costs $169, while the folding model goes for about $350. Claims can be submitted, Watts says, through Blue Cross, RCMP or Veterans Affairs coverage.

The extensions are made from 304 stainless steel, are medical grade and will last a, “very long time,” Watts says. To install, one removes the covers on the existing handles and slips the steel over top, then securing it with bolts.

“A lot of the money in hospitals has been diverted away from capital expenditures and slowed down sales of these types of things,” says Watts, an accounting and finance grad from the University of Lethbridge.

He says the extensions are being used in a couple Saskatchewan-based hospitals, and there are demos being done in Alberta.

“It’s very exciting whenever you see porters and nurses trying to push these things around. They’re so happy because it’s so much easier.”

Raging Bull is also working on a fund to help those who could use a unit, but can’t afford one.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Wheelchair innovation could help hospital and care home staff during COVID-era and beyond

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