‘Lion of Jelutong’ take a tumble

‘Lion of Jelutong’ take a tumble ..... so read NST, page 20 nation . The report that followers indicate that Mr Karpal Singh fell out of his wheel chair while he was being carried up the stairs. Further it was mention he fell flat on his face as “he could not grip the handle of the chair”.

I have to say this is a “common” accident due to the competence of the person caregivers. Now I am not questioning the sincerity and responsibility of the disable person care giver especially in this case. It’s the competence of the person care giver in handling the disable persons or equipment in this case the wheelchair, as most care givers inclusive of professionals have not received any training at all, or have receive some sort of training do not use the training fully

Some time back in the 1980’s while being a Trainee in a Hilton in Basel, Switzerland, I receive a short one hour training which I remember and use till this day, with subject among which are

· How to guide a visually disadvantage person to his / her place at a table.

· How to serve food / beverage to a visually disadvantage person.

· How to use a wheel chair going up and down ramps and stairs.

(Note: Being a waiter/server in Switzerland is not a lite weight job that every one can do like in Malaysia, - its a full time professional job)

Back to the wheel chair, this is what I was thought, and this is what I teach to my staff.

when going down a ramp, - roll the wheel chair backwards with the care giver going down first. If your roll the chair forward and you stop suddenly the person in the chair will be thrown forward.

when going up or down the stairs – the wheel chair must be move backwards, up or down, with the disable person in a reclining position and use the big wheel to land first.