In late June, a man by the name of Lucas Stewart was seriously injured a farming accident. He sustained a spinal cord injury after becoming pinned beneath a hay bale.
When he fell and slipped beneath the oversized bale, Stewart felt a snap and instantly lost the feeling in most of his body. The accident left him unable to walk, stand, or drive an automobile. Since his injury, however, occupational therapist Orlando Berlanga has begun assisting Mr. Stewart in part of his therapy by helping him learn to use a trans-sit car transfer simulator.
The device offers spinal cord injury patients a safer, more practical alternative to practicing with adaptive controls out in a rehabilitation center parking lot. Before this life-size simulator was developed, a literal crash course getting into and out of a vehicle over parking lot pavement was the only way for a recently spinal cord injured patient to get acclimated with such a big adjustment.
According to Orlando Berlanga, he overseas SCI patients through several different practice sessions with the simulator before he began guided lessons in the hospital’s parking lot with an actual automobile, truck, or van. The simulator system can actually be adjusted to different heights to match a patient’s respective car, SUV, or conversion van. While a large part of the rehabilitation exercise involves different driving scenarios, a large part also focuses on how a patient will transition – ingress or egress through the vehicle’s door and into the driver’s seat. He noted, referring to the simulator’s realism: “This one – you can raise the height.”
The simulator is configured with complete hand controls for patients who are no longer able to use the foot pedals. Berlanga added:
“Anybody that can’t use their legs, they can use the hand controls for the gas and the brake. One of the most important tests to see if it’s safe for a patient to once again get behind the wheel looks at the reaction time when starting and stopping.”
The simulator also features a reaction test. This helps rehabilitation specialists to accurately gauge a patient’s recovery progress and assess their physical capabilities. Healthcare officials can then better determine when it’s safe for a patient to begin driving again. One doctor expressed his confidence in the system and noted how they can involve family members by having them practice assisting the spinal cord injury patient in and out of the vehicle and ensure everything is safe before the patient goes home and begins driving again.
According to Stewart, his traditional physical therapy exercises can be exhausting, but it’s all worth it to him when he notices progress – even small improvements such as some sensation gradually returning to his legs. Stewart also noted how important it is to give therapy your best effort, explaining how he gives his all and does his best every day. Stewart’s also explained how he hopes the ingress and egress exercises with the car transit simulator might bring him closer to his goal of attempting to walk again – possibly with braces or some assistance. The car transit simulator at that hospital was donated but the system costs about 15-thousand dollars.
References:
Arklatex homepage.com – https://www.arklatexhomepage.com/story/d/story/car-simulator-helps-patients-whove-suffered-spinal/37576/RmGz4UohfkeaLB_r6Xl1zw
