An innovative new wheelchair will soon be available to clients of STARC, thanks to a donation from Chevron.

The oil company, which opened an office in Covington in 2007, recently donated three motorized wheelchairs to the agency. Known as a Power Chair, the machine is capable of climbing stairs or moving up any inclined surface thanks to a rotating track system.

The chair is manufactured by ParaMed Systems, a Utah company that first developed the idea about 10 years ago with an eye to eliminating back injuries for first responders when transporting patients up or down a flight of stairs. Chevron Emergency Medical Coordinator Danny Hall met the company’s CEO at a conference a couple of years ago, and thought the idea would be helpful for its offshore sites.

STARC clients and board members pictured with Chevron Emergency Medical Coordinator Danny Hall are, from left, Patrice Harrison, Beth Mitchell, Rhonda Clark, Hall, Mark Baham and Thomas Mills. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

“The offshore environment is very challenging, in that we always have to go up to the heliport,” said Hall. “It presents a risk of additional trauma to both the EMT and the patient, plus it’s very slow going, so the additional time required can be detrimental.”

Hall and Chuck Hebert, an emergency medical technician who conducts training for Chevron’s emergency personnel, began working with ParaMed to redesign the chair for an industrial environment.

A number of prototypes were designed and after a series of tests under a variety of conditions, the company found a model that worked for them.

Since outfitting the Chevron fleet with the chairs, Hall said several successful evacuations have been conducted, including five cases documented as patient “saves.”

Once the company no longer needed the prototypes, Hall began looking for a local organization that might be able to use them.

The chairs run more than $6,000 each, which is a difficult investment for a nonprofit organization such as STARC.

The agency serves individuals with developmental disabilities, and a few of its clients are physically disabled as well. The chairs can be used in event of emergencies or on a longer-term basis in cases of short-term disability.

Mark Baham, STARC’s Assistant Director, said the chairs would help their clients in ways previously unimaginable.

“This will help them go places and do things they might not have been able to do before,” said Baham.