Back of Wooden Wheelchair

How archaic and frightening. Straps? Were they for the dangerous patients?

Motts, i noticed that you hardly ever shoot your requisite Lonely Chair shots from the front or a front angle; any reason for the rear angle preference? it almost seems as though the chair is being "punished" ala "go stand in the corner Little Johnny"... By the by, there is something very disturbing about the way that one strap just kind of trails behind.

Has anyone here ever heard of Insulin coma therapy? I heard that a Viennese psychiatrist developed this type of treatment to cure psychotic patients, it worked by injecting large amounts of insulin into the blood stream and putting the patient into a coma, they wer supposed to show signs of slight improvement,but after he overdosed one of his patients the treatment was put to an end. Don't ask me if it killed the patient, because I don't know.

Insulin coma shock was developed by Manfred Sakel shortly after insulin was discovered in 1922. Depicted in "A Beautiful Mind", insulin coma shock sent patients into a violent hypoglycemic coma. I am pretty sure I remember reading that Sakel demonstrated insulin coma shock therapy at Harlem Valley State Hospital, however several hospitals (including Byberry) couldn't afford the treatment.
The reason why insulin coma shock therapy was put to an end was because metrazol shock therapy (circa 1934 by Meduna) was cheaper, faster, and had a lower fatality rate. Metrazol was eventually replaced by ECT for similar reasons.

i just wanted to say that restraint is still used in hospitals today, obviously not to the extent that used to be enforced.....and the belt to me resembles the belts that we use in the hospitals to help lift patients that are weak and unable to stand on their own, just thought i would offer a little of what i know

sorry, one more bit of info.........the belts are called gait belts

Saw your guy's here, although this page is not "live" keep checking it. Lots of info will be up when it's done.

http://harlemvalley.org/psychotherapy/

This chair reminds me of "The Changeling"

Sorry to shoot down the "restraints" theory, but this just looks like a belt that would be fastened around a very weak patient to keep him or her from falling out of the chair. After all, this was a tuberculosis hospital, and those patients weren't exactly known for being violent.

Because of new laws, if you put a gait belt around a patient then fasten it around a chair, this is considered a restraint and you get fined big time for it.

This looks like a "seatbelt" that is commonly used to help residents stay in their wheelchairs if they are in danger of slipping out- it's not really a restraint, because it's not inhibiting voluntary movement- the person is simply in danger of falling out of the wheelchair, usually because of altered posture.

My grandfather is in a veteran's center, and, yeah, he gets "restrained". Voluntarilly, I might add. He was shot in the leg in WWII, fell and broke his hip about 10 years ago, and has had multiple strokes since then. He's fairly alert and lively, but he used to fall out of his wheelchair quite a bit, and by this time he's too uncoordinated to stand up. The one time he sneezed, fell out of the chair, and ended up on the floor for almost a half hour or so before someone found him. After that, he absolutely demanded they belt him to that chair. So, yeah, it kind of makes me laugh every time someone automatically assumes that restraints are always bad. My grandfather had to fight to get them to belt him in. Same for when he's in bed. He tends to sleepwalk, which is trouble considering he can't walk or balance anymore. One night he had a dream he was going for a walk to pay his taxes. Ended up getting out of bed in his sleep and taking a nasty fall. They had to amputate two of his toes because of it. Ever since then, they build this whole complicated fortress of blankets and pillows around him in bed so he can't accidentally roll himself out of it. He wants them to strap him to the bed, but apparently they are afraid to go that far due to legal issues. So, I mean, yeah... If I was staying briefly in a sleep clinic for something like sleep-walking, I'd probably demand they put me in some light restraints at night. Hey, it's better than sedating me every night, and I certainly wouldn't want to go on a midnight sleep-hike out to some busy road or something.

Perfect for youre every day needs!

ooooo seat belts!

It's interesting that these older chairs have the castoring wheels at the back.

I wonder why they are on the front on newer ones.

My Friend has CP...She is a quadraplegic. She insists her belt is fastened in her wheel chair because her involuntary shakes would put her out the chair and on the floor

I, too, am amused by the constant assumption that belts are always bad things and the mark of a bad hospital. Obviously Lynne has not seen this conversation. :P

A gorgeous find and undoubtedly worth something to someone, once it was cleaned up, polished, and had a bit of work done to remove the rust. I'm jealous.