Mangar International's Elk provides a Lift!

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 21, 2009 – Buckinghamshire's Supporting People team has launched a programme to provide a special inflatable lifting device in all of the 93 sheltered housing schemes in the county.

The programme started in the summer with Paradigm Housing Association's 15 sheltered housing schemes in Buckinghamshire.

Although aimed mainly at sheltered schemes the lifting devices have also been supplied to the Red Cross who have a dedicated team who can respond to people who have fallen in their homes. This Red Cross project is partly funded by Tesco stores who have nominated the charity as 'their charity of the year'.

Scheme wardens, who will be trained by Supporting People, will also be able to go and assist people in their local area who have fallen in their homes.

The air-powered cushion, called the Mangar Elk, enables a person who has fallen to be returned to their bed or chair without placing others at risk of injury through physically lifting them.

Mangar International (http://www.mangarinternational.co.uk), who make the lifting cushion, are the original inventors of the first structured powered bath lift and have been providing a range of handling and lifting equipment for over 25 years. "We are about improving the quality of life for both the service-user and the carer and helping people to maintain their independence at home", says Paul Manning, the company's Area Manager.

The aim of making the lifting cushions available is to reduce the number of admissions to hospital and to free ambulance crews from avoidable call-outs. Recent data shows that within a 12 month period the Ambulance Service attended 4,877 fall incidents when the crew was only required to lift the person as no injury was sustained.

Robert Melton, Paradigm's sheltered housing team manager, believes the lifting cushion will be an excellent resource: "We do have times when people fall and an ambulance is called. With this resource it will certainly help our wardens and overcome the problem of carers being unable to lift people."


Caption for photograph: Adults & Family Wellbeing cabinet member, Mike Colston, tries out the 'Mangar' air powered cushion at the Cherry Orchard Sheltered Housing Scheme in Prestwood. The Council has placed the cushion in Paradigm Housing Association's 15 sheltered schemes. Pictured with Mike Colston is Robert Melton (right) Paradigm's sheltered housing team manager; Paul Manning, Area Manager for Mangar International and Andrew Fox, manager of Cherry Orchard.