carry on adaptive equipment

[scroot]

DW and I recently returned from a cruise to Alaska. All and all it was wonderful but the airline lost DW's luggage (we went to Seattle it went to Phili). In it were over a dozen devices that, while not 'medically necessary', are the things that give her independence. Things with long handles, grabbers, and the like. As we were seeking compensation for the half of the trip we had to accomplish in one outfit (think Alaska in sandals), the airline told us that we should carry on all adaptive equipment and that that is TSA policy. Much of the equipment doesn't fit in the bins and we were told once that her hairbrush was too "clublike". We do carry on all of the meds which take up an entire bag. What do you all do. Do you carry everything on (a bit hard while pushing the chair) or do you check and pray?

 

[madenon]

Sorry to hear about your luggage being lost.

Yes, I do take every medical thing, aid, whatever with me as carry on. They are free of the "no more than such and such weight/size" rule, and no way I'm running the risk of not seeing them again soon/ever. I don't know for sure about the TSA (am not from america), but I think I did read something along these lines on their site. Another reason I take them with me as carry on is their combined value. If something were to get lost or damaged, it is worth more than the airline and/or insurance would cover. Taking it with me means I can control what happens with it.

If you have problems lugging it around, you might want to consider bags you can attach/hang on the wc, use a backpack if pushing, using trolley-like bags etc. There are those out there who you can click to eachother, so you would only have to handle one, and the others will follow. Also there are trolleys out there who do great with a wc! Just put it right in front of the chair, push the footrest against it, and start pushing the wheelchair. This is how we took my new luggage to the car after buying it, my father having to push me, and nobody to help. The person using the chair could put a hand on the handle of the suitcase/bag for some guiding, but there are out there that don't even need that. (I really really love this! Makes things so much easier travelling solo)

If that doesn't work, or you don't like it for any reason, you could also use airport assistence. The poor folks overthere better not run into me, cause they'll be dragging around more than enough stuff. Let's see, for one person; a bag of normal carry on stuff. One bag of medication and small aids. One bag of wc-parts, tools and some more aids. At least one cushion (probably will turn into 2) and pushing bars from the manual chair. And yes; they still have to push me around. Somehow they allways manage fine, with a smile and even have the energy and concentration left to start some small talk most of the time.

Having problems with aids taking them on as carry on. I can understand some remarks being made, security having concerns etc. However, if you explain what it is for, and it is not something like a gun/explosives etc. they should let you take it on. For instance, I allways take the wc pushingbars with me as carry on. If you would really want to, I'm pretty certain you could knock out a FA if you've got some rotten plans. Some of the other aids I take; same story. Those of us travelling with a powerchair need to charge it regularly. A lot of those powerchairs have a external batterycharger. They are heavy enough to do real damage if you smash it at someones head at full force. And again; we are allowed to take these with us as carry on, simply because you really need them and the risk of loosing it when checking it.

I don't know about the stuff that wont fit the bin. You could ask at check in if there is any storage on board that it will fit in. I know some of the planes in Europe have extra storage place for this, and from what I've read it's very common to have some onboard storage for manual wc as well. Maybe you could use that as an option.